U.S. forces pulled out of major Iraqi cities in what CQ Politics calls a “quiet” withdrawal. Foreign Policy’s Mark Lynch says the Obama Administration should be praised for honoring the Status of Force Agreement between the two countries. Foreign Policy’s Peter Feaver fears America is compromising a decent outcome in Iraq. Fellow Foreign Policy blogger, Tom Ricks, says that there’s no decent outcome to be had, but concedes that a pulling out now might not be optimal for undoing the Bush-era damage.
Foreign Policy’s Mark Lynch examines how Arabs will judge Obama’s Guantanamo policy, concluding that his policy must be clear and bold to have a positive impact. The New York Times’ Charlie Savage illustrates why clarity and boldness have not marked Obama’s counterterrorism policies thus far, instead bearing close resemblance to the policies of President Bush. In other Gitmo commentary, the Atlantic Monthly’s Chris Good details efforts by a Guantanamo detainee to suppress evidence produced by torture and place the Obama administration in the difficult position of demonstrating why the evidence is still legitimate. In another case, the New York Times reports that lawyers want to visit black sites run by the CIA before they are decommissioned to see if they were tainted by harsh conditions and torture.
The New York Times’ Roger Cohen says if President Obama engages with Iran, he “betrays millions of Iranians who have defrauded and have risked their lives to have their votes count.” The National Review’s Andy McCarthy agrees, with his characteristic rhetorical flourish.
The Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman slams Secretary of Defense Bob Gates’s recent statement on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell as incoherent, while The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb says it’s reasonable. Relatedly, Lt. Dan Choi lost his first administrative challenge after being dismissed under DADT.
ProPublica’s Dafna Linzer notes that President Obama appeared to back away from issuing an executive order establishing indefinite detention. Left-leaning commentators were angered by rumors of an impending executive order, including Obsidian Wings’ Hilzoy, who said that it would undermine America’s basic respect for the rule of law. Liza Goitein writes for Balkinization about why the issue is so divisive. Benjamin Wittes and Jack Goldsmith pen a guest column for the Washington Post explaining why the President should collaborate more with Congress on national security matters. Volokh Conspiracy’s Jonathan Adler agrees with their analysis.
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