President Obama has at this point conceded a number of policy issues to his predessor. He has maintained the so-called "domestic wiretap" program in place. He has used the "state secrets" defense. He has continued the practice of rendition.
And although he famously made a pledge to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, he has now all but conceded that Bush's solution was the best available. And in the exception that proves the rule, no one is happy that 9-11 perpetrators are being tried in US Courts instead of military commissions.
And it goes without saying that Obama is sticking to the plan for Iraq laid out by Bush.
Now, it turns out, that Bush was right about Iran as well, but only now is the President figuring out that talking to Iran is not going to work very well.
Iran has defied international pressure to halt its nuclear program, announcing it will build 10 new enrichment plants.
State television says work on the new facilities will begin in two months.
When the US and Iran talked a while ago, the President thought he had convinced Iran to cease and desist. Everyone was all smiles when Iran agreed to ship their nuclear material to Russia and China for enrichment.
Then Iran backed out. Publicly.
And when the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency then rebuked Iran, Iran decided to rebuke the UN by announcing the new nuclear facilities.
Now the thread upon which the Obama Administration can hang its hat is that both Russia and China joined in the rebuke.
But the rebuke is non-binding.
We'll see what happens when the Security Council takes up the matter of sanctions. I'm thinking Russia and China will show the President what else he's missing with regards to Foreign Policy savvy.
Perhaps he needs to consult with Bush on how to proceed...
