Sounding Like Bush, Or Blaming Him?

washingtonmonthly.com — One of the more common complaints I heard last night about President Obama's speech on U.S. policy in Afghanistan is that Obama "at times sounded like Mr. Bush in justifying this war. He celebrated the United States as a nation 'founded in resistance to oppression' and talked about its long record of sacrifice in 'advancing frontiers of human liberty.'" That's certainly fair, and any similarities to George W. Bush are necessarily discouraging. But, while it was hardly the most important part of the West Point speech, one of the elements of the address that stood out was the way in which Obama called out Bush for pursuing a failed policy for so long.

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