overseas trip show he has begun restoring America 's name and reputation , key ingredients to successful policy making . Even before stepping onto foreign soil , Obama began by ordering the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center closed , thus returning the United States to upholding the very same rule of law it preaches to other nations . He also has stated over and over again that `` America does not torture , '' thus returning the United States to leading on human rights , not cherry-picking them . To those such as former Vice President Dick Cheney who claims this will make America more vulnerable , even some former Bush administration officials now concede that rigorous but patient above-board interrogation has proven to yield better , more reliable intelligence than a rush to the waterboard . Obama has kept a campaign pledge and given a fixed date for ending the unpopular U.S. war in Iraq . `` Let me say this as plainly as I can : By August 31 , 2010 , our combat mission in Iraq will end , '' he announced . Yet the perils are clear . Hundreds of Iraqi civilians have been killed in
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Judging by the hysterical reaction in some quarters , to President Obama 's handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , or his bow to Saudi Arabia 's King Abdullah , you would think that America 's national security rested solely on body language not sound policy . The presidential handshake between Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez spurred many comments . But just for the record , let 's not forget that President George W. Bush kissed and held hands with the same Abdullah after 9/11 , while also looking deep into the soul of Vladimir Putin . And a generation earlier , egged on by British Prime Minister `` Iron Lady '' Margaret Thatcher , President `` Tear Down That Wall '' Ronald Reagan , decided that indeed Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was a man he could do business with : the business of ending the Cold War . While Obama has not managed in 100 days to defeat Islamic militants , usher in a Middle East peace treaty or disarm North Korea , on these and other issues he has laid down some important groundwork . Most importantly , the global polls following his first