i think i said before, we know what it does not mean. it does not mean taking the bush/cheney approach, the neoconservative approach but it means sitting back and doing nothing is no longer a possibility. barack obama is leading from behind approach is not working. it s has not worked in syria and it s not going to work in iraq. we are going to have to work together with allies in that region and we re going to have to do more than sit back and allow the events of all the world to push us around. chuck, what are the idealized options? i don t think there is i guess that maliki leaves. there is a new government that comes in and there is some space that is created. the united states does come in with help. i mean, you know, i think idealistically they are hoping that maliki realizes he is the
against the united states in afghanistan, pakistan, and elsewhere. that s something to be factored in. if you compare this to the bush/cheney approach which was the commander in chief was supreme and could basically do anything with executive power in this war on terror, here was a president coming forward and saying, i m going to ratchet back, be more restrictive on drones and give congress more oversight, something john is right, he hasn t done enough of so far. right now he s basically put the same rules of engagement, restrictions on hitting non-american nationals. very close. very close. and i think that they were trying i think he was trying to we won t see the playbook. the so-called playbook. that is that is still a classified document. but it will be shared completely with congress which i think is a very important point. but it looks like they re drawing the program in. they re using it only for very high-value targets, for senior leadership of al qaeda and
in. if you compare this to the bush/cheney approach which was the commander in chief was supreme and could basically do anything with executive power in this war on terror, here was a president coming forward and saying, i m going to ratchet back, be more restrictive on drones and give congress more oversight, something john is right, he hasn t done enough of so far. right now he s basically put the same rules of engagement, restrictions on hitting non-american nationals. very close. very close. and i think that they were trying i think he was trying to we won t see the playbook. the so-called playbook. that is that is still a classified document. but it will be shared completely with congress which i think is a very important point. but it looks like they re drawing the program in. they re using it only for very high-value targets, for senior leadership of al qaeda and affiliated organizations. and i think that s a very important move. let s take a look at the presiden
explain what he said. well, he said the criteria is very is going up. we know the use of drones have been cut back in the past couple months, and he, himself, talked about how sometimes drones have caused civilian casualties and that has turned the population against the united states in afghanistan, pakistan, and elsewhere. that s something to be factored in. if you compare this to the bush/cheney approach which was the commander in chief was supreme and could basically do anything with executive power in this war on terror, here was a president coming forward and saying, i m going to ratchet back, be more restrictive on drones and give congress more oversight, something john is right, he hasn t done enough of so far. right now he s basically put the same rules of engagement, restrictions on hitting nonamerican nationals. very close. very close. and i think that they were trying i think he was trying to we won t see the playbook. the so-called playbook. that is tha
is he a stronger, more competent, more knowledgeable somebody rooted in certain values and principles than his opponent? that s the choice americans have. okay. did romney seem to you the other night somebody deeply competent in, deeply fluent in, somebody who has a firm compass on foreign policy issues or not? that s the question americans have to face. okay. same thing with economic issues. same thing with social issues. so the answer to that, no, mitt romney wasn t. we said it here on the show. yesterday for three hours. just as i don t believe barack obama s competent when it comes to getting people back to work. but my larger point is on the torture issue or on the bush/cheney approach to terrorism, whether you talk about tripling the number of troops in afghanistan, whether you talk about drone warfare, whether you talk about killing