WEST POINT, N.Y. -- President Obama on Saturday offered a glimpse of a new national security doctrine that distances his administration from George W. Bush's policy of preemptive war, emphasizing global institutions and America's role in promoting democratic values.
| I seem to recall George Bush working through global institutions even when it was frustrating and not in our best interests. I also remember George Bush promoting democracy around the world. Obama was asleep back then, I guess. |
Define "democratic values."
In a commencement speech to the graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the president outlined his departure from what Bush had called a "distinctly American internationalism." Instead, Obama pledged to shape a new "international order" based on diplomacy and engagement.
Like we've been doing with Iran, for instance? And North Korea? And in the Muddle East since 1948?
Obama has spoken frequently about creating new alliances,
We don't need no damn Brits. And Aussies are so 1944. And who needs Canucks? They can all be dumped and then we can look for new allies.
and of attempts to repair the U.S. image abroad after nearly a decade in which Bush's approach was viewed with suspicion in many quarters.
| Bush was also respected by many who were at the same time suspicious. Whereas Obama doesn't seem to get much respect outside of the MSM. |
Unlike Bush, who traveled to West Point in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to announce his American-centered approach to security, Obama on Saturday emphasized his belief in the power of those alliances. |