Bush is following Obama's lead on Foreign Policy

Great column in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about how the Bush Administration foreign policy seems to be evolving in the direction that Obama has been advocating for months.

Anybody paying attention has seen that the Bush Administration is finally starting to realize that its heretofore untouchable policy of "No Negotiation with Enemies" is starting to thaw.

We saw it with North Korea with very positive results

We are now seeing it with Iran as the Bush Administration is belatedly sending an envoy along with European negotiators to discuss Iran's nuclear policy.

Even better, Nouri al Maliki has effectively endorsed Obama's plan to pull out of Iraq within 16 months. While he is backing off the original endorsement now, he still advocates a rapid pullout of US forces.

As for Afghanistan, Obama has been arguing that this was and should have remained at the forefront of the battle against the terrorists. Our military has been asking for more help in Afghanistan as well. Apparently, both Bush and McCain are starting to come around to that point of view too.

I wonder how they will package all this. They can't acknowledge that Obama is and has always been right, but smart people will see it for what it is. However, now that al Maliki wants the US to leave Iraq sooner rather than later, they may have to stop tamping down on the superficial position that withdrawing from Iraq means surrender.

For a guy with "very little foreign policy experience" and "a thin resume", that Obama sure is smart....