Jonathan Chait may have this exactly right. Obama — who isn’t given enough credit for swift, smooth and sometimes devastating political moves — may have taken defense away from the screamers on the right.
Obama used his speech today to shore up his exposed left flank. He did so in several ways. He argued for his administration’s drone strikes, which have become a symbol of out-of-control military power, as a flawed but necessary step that minimizes civilian casualties in comparison with the alternative. Obama promised “to review proposals to extend oversight of lethal actions outside of war zones that go beyond our reporting to Congress.” He insisted that he would not and could not use drones to attack an American citizen on U.S. soil. He promised “to engage Congress about the existing Authorization to Use Military Force, or AUMF, to determine how we can continue to fight terrorists without keeping America on a perpetual war-time footing.” And he pledged a review of the DOJ’s approach to prosecuting national security leaks.
Politically, if not substantively, Obama’s speech today represents a watershed moment. For the first time in the post-9/11 world, the domestic political threat in the war on terror comes from the left rather than the right. …Daily Intel
Okay. A substantial majority, including many Republicans, see the Iraq war as a mistake. In general, most of us wish war would go away. If the left can take the credit for it, even better. So let’s finish the job.