Daniel Gallington

GALLINGTON: Bush Doctrine: Half a bad rap

In his recent speech at West Point, President Bush defended what has been called the "Bush Doctrine" - the policy known best because of the question ABC's Charlie Gibson sandbagged Sarah Palin with. (By his awkward demeanor with the scripted question, Mr. Gibson clearly didn't know the answer, either). Sad, because part of the doctrine - "preemption" - will continue to be U.S. policy, however it may be described by the Obama administration. Ironically perhaps, it's the "democracy" part of the Bush Doctrine that has failed under the Bush administration, primarily because of fuzzy thinking and poor execution at the senior policy level. Published December 23, 2008