Bye Bye Bush Doctrine? Foreign Policy in a New White House

OCt. 28, 2008— -- No matter who is elected president, the doctrine embraced by President Bush will be retooled at the very least or possibly even tossed out entirely.

Defining the "Bush doctrine" has been open to debate, but it essentially boils down to dealing pre-emptively with emerging threats.

That was the argument Bush used to invade Iraq, an argument that proved questionable when weapons inspectors hunting for hidden caches of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons came up empty-handed.

That invasion was at the heart of the Bush doctrine. It has colored everything the president has done in the foreign policy world, and it will color everything the next president does.

Barack Obama has made much of his opposition to the war from the beginning, a war that John McCain supported. The two's views remain starkly different.

Obama opposed the surge of more than 30,000 troops into Iraq and still believes that it failed in its goal to produce a political solution.

Obama says he believes that all troops can be pulled out within a 16-month period after the election, although he would keep a residual force in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. Obama has never said how large a force would be needed. He is opposed to permanent bases.

McCain was a strong critic of the early strategy in Iraq but was a vocal supporter of the troop surge. Because of the surge's success in bringing greater security to Iraq, McCain does not want a timetable for withdrawal, preferring a "conditions-based" approach.

In a speech earlier this year, McCain said, "I intend to win the war and trust in the proven judgment of our commanders there and the courage and selflessness of the Americans they have the honor to command. The costs in lives and treasure we would incur would we fail in Iraq will be far greater than the heartbreaking losses we have suffered to date. I will not allow that to happen."