Obama and the war on terror

Is Bush's global war over, or have the tactics merely changed?

"The war on terror is over," said Roger Cohen in The New York Times. President Obama has abandoned George W. Bush's "with-us-or-against-us global struggle" in which the freedom-loving West squared off against Islamofascism and other "forces of darkness." Obama's rapprochement with a Muslim world "long cast into the 'against-us' camp" will make it easier to make progress on Israel-Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Obama's feel-good policies, said John Yoo in The Wall Street Journal, sure please his base. But closing Guantánamo Bay and ending the CIA's special authority to interrogate terrorists "will also seriously handicap our intelligence agencies from preventing future terrorist attacks."

Terrorists might think they can breathe easy, said Investor's Business Daily in an editorial. "But before Osama gets too comfortable in his cave, he should ponder" what Obama has said about his resolve to crush al Qaida, and how Predator drone strikes in Pakistan on Obama's watch killed several terrorists. Tactics may change, but the goal is the same.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us