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I think it all comes down to this idea of perpetual crisis that Americans seem to value in a twisted kind of way: war isn't something you use as a tool--a means to an end--war is something you manage; war (and even lesser conflicts) is an ongoing procedural reality of a nation's perceived security and even survival.
We know how G. W. Bush marked a turning point in foreign policy with this regard, and now we have Obama handling the fallout of that. If anything, Obama has shown his convictions in that he believes it would be folly to carry on how his predecessor did. He's just not nearly as overt about it. The impact of not doing something isn't nearly as visible as doing something. And when you have Obama doing such things that can be deemed as "staying the course" a la Bush, it's perceived as business as usual--a third term. But what new Bushlike initiatives has Obama unleashed on the world?
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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