Ironically, for a president who once ran for office promising "transparency" in government, the dreaded associated "a" word, "accountability," has been somewhat difficult to discern. Even if government actions were transparent, which they are not, the ability of senior bureaucrats and politicians to make multiple bad decisions goes unchallenged when there is no accountability .

The recent killing of two foreign captives in an errant drone strike in Pakistan has raised some serious questions about the government's employment of what has become its principal offensive weapon in its global war on terror (which the White House now prefers to call its overseas contingency operations). While President Obama, who has claimed that drones strikes only take place when there is "near certainty" about the target, took personal responsibility for the mishap, it does not require much understanding of Washington's ways to realize that the gesture is in reality quite empty since the Chief Executive is unlikely to bear any actual consequences.