A Presidential motorcade of President-elect Barack Obama turns on to Pennsylvania Avenue en route to the White House, November 10, 2008. (Mitch Dumke/Reuters)ANALYSIS-Obama Seen As Continuing Covert
War On Al Qaeda -- Reuters
War On Al Qaeda -- Reuters
WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Covert U.S. strikes against al Qaeda, authorized and employed aggressively by President George W. Bush, look set to continue when Barack Obama takes office despite expected protests from allies and adversaries.
"This is perhaps the thorniest issue of Obama's foreign-policy initiation," said Brian Glyn Williams, a University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth professor who has testified on al Qaeda at the Guantanamo war crimes trials.
Covert military operations around the globe, including in countries with which Washington is not at war, have been a part of U.S. policy for decades and have been mounted against the stateless al Qaeda since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
During his election campaign, premised on the need for change after eight years of Bush policies, Obama condemned Bush's counterterrorism operations as ineffective and advocated more international diplomacy to isolate militant groups.
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My Comment: So much for talking about change. But (in my opinion) this is the right thing for President Obama to do.