When Will We Learn?

I've written here many times about how the Obama administration is looking less and less like the vehicle of change that he promised, but I think it bears [repeating](http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/pers-n26.shtml).

>Barack Obama's vague campaign promises of "change" are rapidly evaporating as the key positions in the next administration are filled with veterans of the US political establishment. Far from ending war abroad and social reaction at home, Obama's choices underline the essential continuity with the policies of the Bush administration.

Even those in the "Establishment" knew that the "change" he talked about was really no change at all, which it why he was able to get elected.

>Far from bringing an end to US militarism as tens of millions of American voters hoped for, the Obama administration is preparing to consolidate a US presence in Iraq and escalate the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The prospect of a dangerous new war looms as Obama's advisers lay out their plans for confronting Iran.

>For those in the US establishment, Obama’s emerging foreign policy comes as no surprise. As the Stratfor think tank commented yesterday: "Obama's supporters believed that Obama's position on Iraq was profoundly at odds with the Bush administration's. We could never clearly locate the difference. The brilliance of Obama's presidential campaign was that he convinced his hard-core supporters that he intended to make a radical shift in policies across the board, without ever specifying what policies he was planning to shift, and never locking out the possibility of a flexible interpretation of his commitments."

>The foreign policy heavyweights who supported Obama for president clearly hope to extend this "brilliance" in duping people onto the world stage as the US continues to aggressively pursue its economic and strategic interests in the Middle East and internationally.