Obama Defends Waiting on Afghanistan Decision

President Obama jumped back into the fray yesterday over whether he is being too careful, and slow, in evaluating what to do next in Afghanistan. "I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way," he told 3,500 members of the military and their families in Jacksonville, Fla. "I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary. And if it is necessary, we will back you up to the hilt."

Obama seemed to be responding to critics, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, who say his policy analysis is taking too long. But the dust-up illustrates a broader point—that the president seems to have a much more deliberative and often Socratic decision-making process than his predecessor, George W. Bush. In a recent interview with U.S. News, Obama shed light on that process, noting that he makes judgments "based on information and not emotions."

[Read an exclusive Q&A with Obama.]

"The things that for me work day to day become that much more important in a crisis: being able to pull together the best people and have them work as a team; insisting on analytical rigor in evaluating the nature of the problem; making sure that dissenting voices are heard and that a range of options are explored; being willing to make a decision after having looked at all the options, and then insisting on good execution as well as timely feedback, so that [if] you have to correct the decision that you make, that you are able to do so in time; being able to stay calm and steady when the stakes are high. You know, all those things are, I think, principles I try to apply in any circumstance. I find them particularly useful when the decisions are tough and the consequences of action are most weighty," he said.

Obama emphasized his willingness "to constantly re-evaluate decisions based on new information." And he said, "If the problem has a clear solution, then it doesn't land on my desk. Somebody else has solved it. So the only things I'm deciding on are things that are tough."

This seems to be a marked contrast to the policy-making process under Bush and Cheney. Both of them extolled the virtues of making a decision crisply and moving to the next problem as quickly as possible. Bush and Cheney also seemed to consider changing their minds a sign of weakness.

The contrast was underscored when Cheney argued in an October 21 speech that President Obama was "dithering" over whether to send 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan and "seems afraid" to make a decision. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs shot back the following day, telling reporters, "What Vice President Cheney calls 'dithering,' President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public. I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously."

In that speech to the Center for Security Policy, Cheney staked out an entirely different view of presidential decision making in which speed is considered vital and second-guessing is discouraged. "Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries," Cheney said. "Waffling, while our troops on the ground face an emboldened enemy, endangers them and hurts our cause."

• Read the exclusive Q&A with Obama.
• See photos of the Obamas behind the scenes.