Our View: The changing shape of modern war

Lost in the furor over the scope of National Security Agency surveillance and President Barack Obama's recent defense of the nation's drone program is a fundamental shift in the way this administration fights modern, non-state warfare.

For centuries nations engaged each other in a fight for territory or political dominance, using large organized forces in order to achieve their goals. Even after al-Qaeda's 9-11 attack, the Bush administration and his military chiefs conceived of a war with boots on the ground, conquering land and toppling governments.

The results of this approach after more th...