Andrew Bacevich on Obama’s big chance:

The burden of identifying and confronting the Bush legacy necessarily falls on Obama. Although for tactical reasons McCain will distance himself from the president’s record, he largely subscribes to the principles informing Bush’s post-9/11 policies. McCain’s determination to stay the course in Iraq expresses his commitment not simply to the ongoing conflict there, but to the ideas that gave rise to that war in the first place. While McCain may differ with the president on certain particulars, his election will affirm the main thrust of Bush’s approach to national security.

The challenge facing Obama is clear: he must go beyond merely pointing out the folly of the Iraq war; he must demonstrate that Iraq represents the truest manifestation of an approach to national security that is fundamentally flawed, thereby helping Americans discern the correct lessons of that misbegotten conflict.

I think that’s correct, though as noted in the Rolling Stone piece linked over the weekend, many Americans are simply incapable of admitting that not only the war, but the philosophy behind it, was mistaken. Bacevich has a lot of faith in the public, that they’ll be able to understand this; I simply don’t know that this faith is warranted. But I suppose we’ll find out.