One of the more overarching ways that the Clinton administration kicked the can of terrorism down the road was by treating it as a criminal issue. The Justice Dept - thanks in no small measure to Jamie Gorelick - set up legal protections that prevented intelligence sharing between law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The White House's FBI-centric approach to individual terrorist attacks shielded Al Qaeda from the full force of US military power.

The Bush administration tried to change that culture, facilitating contacts between various agencies and - it turns out - signing orders authorizing Special Forces to hunt down Al Qaeda all over the planet:

The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere... These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush... The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States... Some of the military missions have been conducted in close coordination with the C.I.A.

So naturally Obama is planning to spend his first few days in the White House reversing a broad swath of Bush's executive orders and potentially installing Gorelick as Attorney General:

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

At least Al Qaeda - having been handed a devastating battlefield defeat in Iraq due to Bush's steadfastness and despite the machinations of Obama and Biden - isn't desperately trying to launch a terrorist mega-attack. That would be awkward.

And when I said that liberal interest groups were pretty psyched about Obama's impending ultra-liberal administration, I meant pretty damn psyched.

References:
* Jamie Gorelick: Part of the Solution, or the Problem? [CQ]
* Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda in Many Countries [NYT]
* Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions [WaPo]
* The return of The Wall? [Hot Air]
* Warning of new bin Laden attack [The Age]
* Leftist Interest Groups Pretty Psyched About Ultra-Liberal Obama Administration (Plus: MR's Electoral Prediction) (UPDATE: MR's Electoral Map Identical To Rove's) [MR]

Previously:
* New EU Court Rulings Mean That Obama's "Strong Carrots, Strong Sticks" Iran Strategy Now Only Carrots
* Even Frivolous Liberal Enthusiasm Emphasizes Fascism (Plus: So Does Not So Frivolous Liberal Enthusiasm)
* Hezbollah Supporters Pretty Psyched That Their Guy Won