Few have given as much thought as Barack Obama to the pitfalls of waging open-ended war on an abstract noun. On top of its impracticalities – how can you ever declare victory? – fighting a nebulous enemy exacts an insidious toll. Mr Obama built much of his presidential appeal on such a critique – the global war on terror was eroding America’s legal rights at home and its moral capital abroad. The term “GWOT” was purged the moment he took over from George W Bush. In his pledge last week to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, he has travelled almost full circle. It is precisely because Mr Obama is a reluctant warrior that his legacy will be enduring.
對基於一個抽象名詞發動的無限制戰爭會遇到的困難，沒有幾個人考慮得像巴拉克•歐巴馬(Barack Obama)那樣多。除了實際操作上的問題（怎樣纔算打贏了戰爭），與不明確的敵人作戰還會帶來潛在的負面影響。歐巴馬作爲總統的吸引力在很大程度上建立在這樣一種評論上：全球反恐戰爭正在侵蝕美國國內的合法權利及其在國外的道德資本。從小布什(George W Bush)手中接過總統大權後，歐巴馬立刻拋棄了「全球反恐戰爭」一詞。但不久前，他發誓要「削弱並最終摧毀」伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國(ISIS)。就這樣，在兜了一大圈後，他幾乎又回到了原點。之所以這麼說，完全是因爲歐巴馬是一位不情願的鬥士，而他留下的東西將是持久的。