Although would to God it had been unnecessary to do so, the most important benefit of the last 7 years has been the cumulative human experience acquired in fighting against radical Islamic terrorism. This has taken many forms. Leadership insight, combat doctrine, increased capabilities in translation, better intel etc. Collectively this human capital is probably more important than the total of hardware improvements, though of course, the two work together.

My guess is that our new informational riches will make it possible to prosecute the war on terrorists in a more non-kinetic way. My greatest worry about an Obama administration is the advent of a Commander in Chief who simply believes he knows better; that is willing to discount the mass of human capital described in the previous paragraph. Sometimes an Alexander arrives to cut the Gordian Knot. But the key assumption is that it is Alexander. I’m better that in Obama’s case, Alexander is someone he knew selling gyros in Chicago.

Right now it is important to understand what we have gained, as well as what remains to be gained, before resetting the whole damned operating system. Obama could do that. But I have no real confidence that he will. Phrases like the “audacity of hope” and “yes we can” and “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for”, if you had heard them uttered in the trenches of the Somme, or at the Bulge or in the underground warrens of anti-Marcos Manila would make your blood run cold.