The Obama campaign's anti-war critique of Bush security policy was doctrinaire.(The Week)(Barack Obama, George W. Bush)(Brief article)

The Obama campaign's anti-war critique of Bush security policy was doctrinaire. The Obama administration--due as much to good fortune as to pragmatism--is signaling more flexibility. Bush's successful troop surge in Iraq paved the way for the gradual reduction of forces that Obama has approved, rather than the hasty pullout he once called for--and he is wisely keeping on Robert Gates, Bush's defense secretary. On Guantanamo Bay, he now acknowledges that the once-promised immediate closure is not possible because the once-promised trials for detainees would be impractical. There are, Obama has discovered, people who mean the United States great harm but cannot be convicted under our rigorous civilian-court standards, so Gitmo must remain open until ...