President Obama announces the new members of his national security team on Thursday. From left: Leon Panetta as secretary of Defense, Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director, Lt. Gen. John Allen as commander for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Ryan Crocker as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
By Alex Wong, Getty ImagesPresident Obama announces the new members of his national security team on Thursday. From left: Leon Panetta as secretary of Defense, Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director, Lt. Gen. John Allen as commander for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Ryan Crocker as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
The appearance of current and future Pentagon, CIA and Afghanistan war leaders ? pending Senate confirmations ? was emblematic of the increasingly blurred lines between Obama's defense and intelligence communities.There was retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a former CIA director, laughing alongside CIA Director Leon Panetta, Obama's choice to replace Gates on July 1. Beside them stood Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, Obama's choice for CIA director.
The revolving doors of national security extended to Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen, like Petraeus a veteran of Iraq, now likely to succeed him in Afghanistan, and Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, who the president wants for a second tour in Kabul.
The team will bring "counsel, continuity and unity of effort," Obama said, noting, "We are a nation still at war." Even with trillion-dollar budget deficits and a looming battle over controlling the $14.3 trillion national debt, he said, "We cannot compromise our ability to defend our nation or our interests around the world."
Obama's selections, contemplated at the White House for months, won bipartisan support amid indications the Democratic-controlled Senate will confirm all four nominees. "The president is to be commended for choosing competence and continuity," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
The announcement came amid turmoil abroad and the need for austerity at home. Panetta, a former White House chief of staff and budget director, warned of "hard choices" and the need to be "disciplined in applying our limited resources." Petraeus, who turned around the Iraq war in 2007, expressed only "guarded optimism about the trajectory of the mission" in Afghanistan.
Obama noted that Panetta, 72, began his four decades of public service as an Army intelligence officer, and that Petraeus, 58, has been "a lifelong consumer of intelligence."
The appointments "probably speak well for the continued fusion of effort between the intelligence community and the military to achieve our objectives in the war on terror," said Stephen Hadley, former White House national security adviser to George W. Bush. "People now see over the last 10 years how closely related on the battlefield intelligence and the military has become."
Jane Harman, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and, like Panetta, a former Democratic congresswoman from California, noted the two bureaucracies have been at odds in the past. Former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld sought to boost the Pentagon's intelligence capabilities so it wouldn't be so dependent on the CIA.
"There's traditionally been tension between intelligence and defense. They haven't liked each other," Harman said. "The collaboration between Panetta and Petraeus really fits the needs right now."
Given the current upheaval in the Middle East, Harman said, the new team's job is nothing short of "developing a new American narrative for what our role is in the world."
Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Vietnam veteran once considered to be a possible Pentagon chief himself, said intelligence is now "thread throughout the fabric of all policy-making."
Soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, must be "part-time warriors, part-time psychologists, part-time mayors" and much more.
Gates, 67, lauded by Democrats and Republicans for his 4? years of service in the Bush and Obama administrations, choked up in talking about the sacrifices of today's troops, including those who return wounded from the battlefield.
"I've done my best to care for them as though they were my own sons and daughters," he said, "and I will miss them deeply."
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment