Obama to Retain Parts of Military Commission System - NYTimes.com

Obama to Retain Parts of Military Commission System - NYTimes.com:

TeamObama replaces more campaign rhetoric with reality. Does it appear to others besides me that Obama's promises to the left wing fringe of his supporters have turned out to be nothing more than pandering for votes?

His anti-war, human rights for terrorists and a host of other 'promises' that he obviously will not and should not keep reveal his inexperience and politics at any cost approach. How long will the fringe stand for his backtracking? On the other hand what can they do about it except whine?

Is someone tracking his backtracking record...a little transparency on that would be useful.

"Administration officials said they were making changes in the system to grant detainees expanded legal rights, but critics said the move was a sharp departure from the direction President Obama had suggested during the campaign, when he characterized the commissions as an unnecessary compromise of American values."

"...During the campaign, Mr. Obama criticized the military commission system as a failure. “It’s time to better protect the American people and our values,” he said, “by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice,” which is used to prosecute members of the armed services.

"...Some liberals and human rights groups said they were stunned by the announcement on Friday, with several calling it a betrayal. They said the image of the new administration holding military trials at Guantánamo would hurt Mr. Obama’s efforts to improve relationships around the world and would embroil the administration in years of legal battles.

Here's yet another take in the NY Times:

"...But as he showed this week in the way he dealt with those two hard cases, Mr. Obama has begun to scale back. Faced with the choice of signaling an unambiguous break with the policies of the Bush era, or maintaining some continuity with its practices, the president has begun to come down on the side of taking fewer risks with security, even though he is clearly angering the liberal elements of his political base..."

While he is wising up and doing the right thing, his flip-flops reveal that he deceived voters during the campaign by promising foolish policies to get votes. Why should we trust a man like this?