Obama's new security strategy breaks with Bush

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_national_security_strategy

Obama's new security strategy breaks with Bush

By ANNE GEARAN and ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writers Anne Gearan And

Burns, Ap National Security Writers – Wed May 26, 8:33 pm ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is breaking with the go-it-alone Bush years

in a new strategy for keeping the nation safe, counting more on U.S. allies to

tackle terrorism and other global problems. It's an approach that already has

proved tricky in practice.

The administration's National Security Strategy, a summary of which was obtained

Wednesday by The Associated Press, also for the first time adds homegrown

terrorism to the familiar menu of threats facing the nation — international

terror, nuclear weapons proliferation, economic instability, global climate

change and an erosion of democratic freedoms abroad.

From mustering NATO forces for Afghanistan to corralling support to pressure

North Korea to give up its illicit nuclear weapons program, the U.S. has

sometimes struggled in leaning on friends and allies in recent years. Still, the

new strategy breaks with some previous administrations in putting heavy emphasis

on the value of global cooperation, developing wider security partnerships and

helping other nations provide for their own defense.

In his first 16 months in office, Obama has pursued a strategy of gentle

persuasion, sometimes summarized as " engagement. "

His administration has attended more closely to ties with Europe, sought a

" reset " of relations with Russia, pushed harder to restart stalled Mideast peace

talks and consulted widely on a roadmap for defeating the Taliban in

Afghanistan.

Obama's critics, however, assert that his policies have largely failed, given

the continued defiance of Iran and North Korea on nuclear development, the

stalemate in Afghanistan and rising worries about terrorist attacks at home.

Presidents use their national security strategy to set broad goals and

priorities for keeping Americans safe. But the document isn't an academic

exercise: it has far-reaching effects on spending, defense policies and security

strategy.

For example, President W. Bush's 2002 strategy document spelled out a

doctrine of pre-emptive war.

" We must be prepared to stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before

they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United

States and our allies and friends, " the Bush strategy said, with Iraq clearly in

mind. The following year U.S. forces invaded, launching a conflict that has

lasted far longer and cost far more money and lives than Bush intended.

Obama's new strategy is expected to move away from that doctrine.

Bush, too, valued alliances. But some of his action, especially the U.S.-led

invasion of Iraq, ripped holes in the fabric of U.S. foreign relations,

particularly in Europe.

Bush pursued what he called " a distinctly American internationalism. " One of the

central pillars of his national security strategy — spelled out in 2002 and

repeated in 2006 — was a call to " strengthen alliances to defeat global

terrorism " and to " work with others to defuse regional conflict. "

But because of Iraq, the indefinite detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo

Bay and other actions, the Bush administration estranged some traditional allies

— a situation exploited by U.S. foes.

Brennan, the White House's top counterterrorism adviser, said Wednesday

that the administration would add combating homegrown terrorism to its strategy.

Terror attacks like the shooting at Fort Hood last year, which killed 13

bystanders, as well as the failed Times Square bombing on May 1, have thrust

homegrown terrorism into the spotlight, and U.S. citizens like Najibullah Zazi

and Headley have been charged with plotting terror attacks.

Obama's revision would be the first time that homegrown terror threats were a

pillar of the document. President Bill Clinton did not mention domestic

terrorism in his 1998 revision, even though the Oklahoma City bombing had

occurred just three years earlier. Bush made only passing reference to homegrown

terrorism in his final national security strategy, published in 2006.

Brennan, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, did not

disclose specifics of Obama's strategy paper. But he hinted at its philosophical

underpinnings. Denouncing al-Qaida as " a small band of cowards, " Brennan said

the U.S. would defeat the militant network while maintaining " our values as a

nation. "

Obama's document enshrines principles and policies that he has advocated since

his election campaign. It will be the foundation for a National Military

Strategy document, due soon.

The strategy makes it clear the United States intends to maintain the world's

most powerful military, with unsurpassed reach and capability despite being

stretched by two wars and other challenges.

Obama touched on many of the themes in the new strategy during a commencement

address Saturday to graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West

Point, N.Y.

The U.S. must shape a world order relying as much on the persuasiveness of its

diplomacy as the might of its military, he said. All hands are required to solve

the world's newest threats: terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons, climate

change and feeding and caring for a growing world population, he added.

Obama said the men and women who wear America's uniform cannot bear that

responsibility by themselves. " The rest of us must do our part, " he said.

" The burdens of this century cannot fall on our soldiers alone. It also cannot

fall on American shoulders alone. "

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Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Matt Apuzzo and Barry Schweid

contributed to this report.