Watching the Bin Laden raid from the White House. White House photo by Pete Souza
Three Wars on Terror -- John Arquilla, Foreign Policy
Ronald Reagan and the battle for Obama's strategic soul.
One of Barack Obama's earliest acts as president was to discard the phrase "war on terror," yet he has been waging just such a campaign these past four years -- with a skillful mix of subtlety and ferocity. Several major al Qaeda plots have been thwarted by aggressive, innovative intelligence programs, often conducted in a deeply networked fashion with our allies. In addition to the killing of Osama bin Laden, many other operatives in the late terrorist capo's organization have found themselves on the receiving end of commando raids or Hellfire missiles, from Waziristan to Yemen -- and beyond. Those not yet in the crosshairs have gone to ground, or dare to move about only sparingly, furtively.
Read more ....
My Comment: There are some similarities, but there is no question in my mind that President Obama has elevated it to a higher level. He does not only have the tools to wage war against terror differently (he has drones, President Reagan did not), but public opinion is now more in favor of the U.S. conducting anti-terrorism operations abroad while President Reagan had limitations. For example .... if President Reagan had ordered the assassination of a U.S. terror suspect abroad without legal due process .... there would have been a public uproar. But in today's world .... President Obama actually issued such an order, and the public outcry was completely muted.
No comments:
Post a Comment