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In announcing changes to his national security team on Thursday, President Obama said he could not think of a group of individuals better suited to lead his team at this time of war and increasing budget challenges as he urged the Senate to confirm them "as swiftly as possible."
Obama has asked CIA Director Leon Panetta replace outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will nominate Gen. David Petraeus to replace Petraeus as CIA director, nominate Gen. John Allen -- currently the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command -- to replace Petraeus in Afghanistan and call on Ryan Crocker to serve as ambassador to Afghanistan.
A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the changes said the men were a "deeply experienced group of people" who would make up the "strongest possible team" to carry out the administration's policies and the president echoed that sentiment during the East Room announcement.
"I've worked closely with most of the individuals on this stage and all of them have my complete confidence," Obama said. "Given the pivotal period that we're entering, I felt it was absolutely critical that we had this team in place so that we can stay focused on our mission, maintain our momentum and keep our nation secure."
Joining the four men on stage for the announcement were National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Biden and Gates.
The president said Panetta -- a former congressman, White House chief of staff, budget director and CIA director -- "knows how to lead." Among the challenges facing Panetta in his new role will be completing the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and managing the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan -- set to begin this summer -- and the eventual transition to Afghan lead on security matters in 2014, while continuing to look for savings to meet the president's goal of cutting an additional $400 billion from the Pentagon budget over the next 12 years.
Obama thanked Gates and said he was confident he would be remembered as one of the finest defense secretaries in history. He said that as a lifelong consumer of intelligence Petraeus knows that it must be timely, accurate and acted on quickly. He called Allen a "battle tested combat leader" who was deeply involved in executing US strategy in Afghanistan. Of Crocker, who in 2002 re-opened the US embassy in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, the president said that few Americans know the region and its challenges better than him.
"These are the leaders that I've chosen to help guide us through the difficult days ahead," Obama said. "I will look to them an my entire national security team for their counsel, continuity and unity of effort that this moment in history demands."
The administration aims to manage a "seamless transition" into these positions. Gates' plan is to leave his position on June 30 and Panetta -- who accepted the president's offer on Monday despite earlier resistance to the idea -- would assume position of secretary of defense on July 1, 2011. Mike Morell, the current deputy director of CIA would serve as acting director between July 1 and the beginning of September, when Petraeus would be expected to take over.
Petraeus will retire from the military in order to serve in the new post. Allen would take up his position at the beginning of September and administration officials could not say when Crocker would head to Kabul, but said they would seek speedy confirmation by the Senate. Petraeus was set to head back to Afghanistan tomorrow morning.
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Amazing his team is leaving him faster then a Cheetah Chasing an Antelope.
Yeah - Steve - Whatever...
Robert Gates has been talking retirement for at least a year now...
Then again, you're one to never let the FACTS get in the way of one of your rants! lol
You tell him Feisty!! At least we won't have burning Americans jumping out of skyscrapers on Obama's watch. Obama isn't a business partner with the bin Laden family, and you can ask any headless Somali pirate how Obama deals with "evildoers".
Yea Nasty ...
You think its just Gates that has LEFT.. They keep leaving this FAILED Administration since the beginning of the Year. They know its a Sinking Ship.. They know they need to start looking for work now cause they wont have a JOB come January of 2013
Fiesty--Does good ole Stevie ever have anything positive to say? He keeps trying to catch his tail but he doesn't know where to look.
lol
Hint: Up his a@@, along side his head! ;o)
Steve-505729
"Amazing his team is leaving him faster then a Cheetah Chasing an Antelope"
which one......are you jealous your not in his team or your not the antelope been chased.?
I know is hard of you Liberals to admit that The Obama administration is Falling Apart. I know you can't come to grips with the Fact that many have left. but geez you liberals are living in LALA land when you can't see the Writing on the Wall.
Steve-505729
You will probably see this "falling apart" administration reelected for a second term judging from the collection of clowns the GOP has assembled.
Besides, Gates wasn't tapped by Obama. He was tapped by Bush if you remember, so I look upon this as a way to purge his administration of another Bush loyalist without compromising national security.
Panetta sounds like a good fit for the CIA. Hopefully he can manage the uneasy relationship between the defense and intelligence communities.
Steve-505729
i know what your beef is. instead of drinking your tea your smoking it. better be careful before you confess on first read.
Steve,
Gates is a Republican so his leaving is expected his staying was the failure, keeping the same old Bush era leadership. Youre complaining because President Obama really haven't changed much from Bush. So we are in agreement that the Bush administration was a failure.
Hey I hear Texas is all ablaze with fires I guess we all know where Hell is located now Starring Gov Rick Perry as Satan!
Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, Flynt Leverett, Ben Miller, Hillary Mann, Larry Lindsey, Ann Wright, John Brady Kiesling, John Brown, Rand Beers, Anthony Zinni, Eric Shinseki, Karen Kwiatkowski, Charles "Jack" Pritchard, Major (then Captain) John Carr, Major Robert Preston, Captain Carrie Wolf, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Paul Redmond, John W. Carlin, Susan Wood, Frank Davidoff, Thomas E. Novotny, Joanne Wilson, James Zahn, Tony Oppegard, Jack Spadaro, Teresa Chambers, Martha Hahn, Andrew Eller, Mike Dombeck, James Furnish, Mike Parker, Sylvia K. Lowrance, Bruce Boler, Eric Schaeffer, Bruce Buckheit, Rich Biondi, Martin E. Sullivan, Richard S. Lanier, and Gary Vikan.
Some of the people that left the Bush administration by 2005. All but 7 left by this point in 2003.
Steve-505729
Amazing his team is leaving him faster then a Cheetah Chasing an Antelope.
Stevie-0
you scum bag it's not as so much as your trampling elephants at the town halls. Republican are getting some swift kicks in the @aaes from the donkeys
Paul Ryan gets booed for supporting wealthy tax breaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5kgnE1Xvec
Tom ,Yreka
Fiesty--Does good ole Stevie ever have anything positive to say? He keeps trying to catch his tail but he doesn't know where to look.
All he needs to do is look in the mirror at the most upper part of his anatomy. Everything he says sounds like it 's coming from his tail; but really it's nasty, fifthly mouthh
Bev.
OH look the RACIST RELIGIOUS FUNDIE SCUM chimes in..
Good selections
I know I'm a day late to ask a boiler room question, but I'll ask it anyway. Wednesday our President released the long form of his birth certificate. Not too surprising, approximately 35 % of the country was not satisfied. I suggest that's about the size of the Tea Party movement. But my question is, will NBC and MSNBC (by policy) change their reporting of the birther movement? Also, will NBC and MSNBC cease to give credence to other right wing "falsehoods" by reporting them as truth.
Sorry for the late question, but I didn't have time to come out and "play" yesterday afternoon.
Ron-- I agree that the idiots on the right will not give up on this moronic birther crap unless the media does. Also, did you notice that the backlash of the Ryan bill and the recall progress of Republicans in Wisconsin has today's conservative posters frothing at the mouth. I like it!
Ron...
Seems you answered your own question. With 35% of the country not satisfied...they will never be...that's a large enough number to keep all news agencies interested in the birther nonsense.
Ya' know Ron, if the faux pollsters stop asking that stupid question......
The usual voting blocks are Republican or Democrat! I never was aware that there was a Tea/Birther block, the media is giving too much credit/influence to the Teabaggers/Birthers!
Stop with the question 'are you a birther'!...Unless the question includes 'are you a racist'!
They answered that yesterday, Ron, when after the President released the long-form certificate, First Read ran a poll asking whether people were satisfied. I was actually shocked to see it, and said so in my comment.
The answers are, sadly, no, and no. Because it isn't about truth anymore. It's about what makes the most sensational story with the least amount of effort put into actual reporting.
Anna Molly:
There you go again, bursting my bubble that good journalism is about seeking the truth. Where did my journalism heroes go? Edward R Murrow, Huntley, Brinkly, Cronkite, Russert: They have all passed on. Isn't there anyone willing to take their place?
Edward R. Murrow and Tim Russert are probably spinning in their graves at what qualifies as "reporting" in today's electronic media. Huntley, Brinkly and even Cronkite were good reporters who became corporate hacks. When they found themselves in that comfy "evening news" chair, they stayed in it and their objectivity and reporting suffered.
Murrow would probably not have bothered with the "birther" story, but would have tried to find out who is giving the real money behind the "Tea Party." Tim Russert would have loved both stories, not for the stories themselves, but for finding out the behind the scenes issues.
That's not where the money is, Ron, unfortunately. Of those who don't seem to be moved by money so much, Rachel Maddow does her job pretty well and is young enough, but beyond that, it's hard to think of anyone who has both the skillset and the temperament. I love Joan Walsh, Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, Ron Reagan (who'd ever have thought I would say that), Melissa Harris-Perry, and a few others, but none of them ever seem to catch the big break. Keith Olbermann has been effectively marginalized, whether you believe it was of his own making or not, and beyond that, no one really measures up. I find the Olbermann thing particularly troubling in light of the upcoming campaign season. Anyone who says he didn't play a big role in 2008 wasn't paying attention.
Anna Molly:
You have named some potential candidates to become excellent journalists. Odd, but Rachel Maddow did not degree in journalism, but she may be at the top of the list. Lawrence O'Donnell could be on that list. It is likely that the new crop of outstanding journalists may be WOMEN.
Strange comment coming. Seems he picked people he knows and is comfortable with and, given that, I'm not sure that the are willing to stand up to authority, the President. The President seems to me to be non confrontational, a comprimiser rather than a fighter. He needs people around him that are not the same, that will tell him when he's wrong and when he needs to stand and fight.
Probably true Ira.
Obama does seem to be quite the deliberative person, but from what I have seen there comes a point where he indicates that his decision has been made, and he predicates every decision on what will benefit the majority of the people in the framework provided.
Classic example: HCR.
He knew he had to work with the insurance companies, or they would shut him down, so he sweetened the pot with 30 million more insurable people that they could draw from. That caused the health insurance companies to not strenuously object to the legislation, and permit its passage.
Yeah ... all the while pretending to oppose it. Heck, if you read the Florida decision, you find that they practically wrote the darn thing, and I'm sure now that the severability provision was left out of the Senate bill on purpose because they didn't want to be stuck with the rest of it should the mandate fail.
I'm not sure that this kind of compromise is always what we need.
Greg in Detroit
He knew he had to work with the insurance companies, or they would shut him down, so he sweetened the pot with 30 million more insurable people that they could draw from. That caused the health insurance companies to not strenuously object to the legislation, and permit its passage.
.........................................................................................
So, he was afraid of the insurance companies and took what he could get. Anthony Weiner was out there screaming for a single payer system Obama never backed him or the others supporting a real Universal Health Care plan. As you said, he's deliberate...sometimes too deliberate and settles for what he can get figuring he can add on sometime in the future. Something he learned from the late Ted Kennedy.
True Anna Molly. It also seems like the President doesn't know how to negotiate, and paints himself into corners that could otherwise be avoided.
Case in point, in his recent budget speech he said that he will refuse to renew the Bush tax cuts again. That leaves a perfect opportunity for the GOP to force him to do it, and then paint him as a waffling flip-flopper.
Yeah Ira. Getting to be a sad day when an insurance company can bark, and make a President jump. Corporations hold far too much sway over America, and I think its time their power was reigned in.
I think corporations ruled that the Kennedys were too wealthy to be bribed, so they removed them with bullets,....not ballots. S'cuse me while I remove my tinfoil hat here.
Right again, Greg, and it will be just before the election this time. Darned if he does and darned if he doesn't.
Greg:
Made perfect sense to me until one of your antenna got bent.
People are always telling me to "get bent" Ira! ;o) And just for the record I am furious at the Democrats for not pushing harder for a "single payer" system, and the Employee Free Choice Act too. This troubling news out of Massachusetts has got me confused too. To whom do we turn?
My take on Ted Kennedy is that he knew he had a Senate seat for life if he wanted it, so he could afford to be patient. If that's what President Obama really thinks, then he may be overthinking the game. It won't do any good to hold his queen in reserve if the republicans' rooks find a way to break through and pick her off before the 2012 election. Lord knows they've been sacrificing pawns left and right, looking for a way through the line. Ultimately, they may find it.
You raise an interesting question, Greg. Normally not at a loss for an opinion, I confess to being stumped.
I know I am going to get creamed for saying this but we need a leader, A STRONG leader who can define the isssues we care about and then follow through so that we can at least recognize what the legislation was after it becomes law. Dems are afraid of the Tea Party and GOP. Why..don't know. Without a guy who can set the standard, the core beliefs, this will continue. I am an Obama guy but, I got to tell you, I sure wish he would stand up and fight rather than this we need to be bipartisan crap. Harry Truman is a hero of mine. Obama could learn a lot from how he conducted himself. No one pushed Truman around, not even Gen. MaCarthur.
Kennedy had to wait through a raft of republican presidents. He did not have a genuine Progressive to work with in order to push HCR through. Clinton (both of em') were assailed just for suggesting HCR.
The only reason Teddy survived is because the Chappaquiddick incident kept him out of the White House so the conspirators decided he was not worth an assassin's bullet.
Greg:
That last part about the assassin's bullet....tin hat and bent antenna on again?
Ira, I disagree. You should go back and watch CAREFULLY what the President does (or doesn't do). What the President DOESN'T do is rant or rave. he doesn't get into the 'day to day' mudslinging like we do here on this blog.
What the President DOES do is carefully move pieces in place for when he needs them, as evidenced by this piece we are blogging about. By moving Leon Panetta to Defense and Petraeus to the CIA, he has set the stage for budget cuts to be put forth and pass, waste to be dealt with, and a person who can control a drawdown from our 2 wars. With Petraeus at the CIA, I expect to see a LOT more clandestine actions that will not be public, and the CIA people will LOVE Petreaus. This move will allow the President to have better control of the Defense Department and to eliminate the overstepping of authority that we have seen publicly with Gen. McChrystal. The Generals do not like or trust the President, and they are hell bent on doing what THEY want to do, no matter that he is the CIC. This move will quash that sort of behaviour and bring Defense more in line with what the President wants to do.
You are all bent out of shape about the Public Option - don't be. The Public Option will be enacted when the PEOPLE are sick and tired of being ripped off by the Insurance companies and DEMAND that a Public option be put in place - with their votes and voices. The funny thing about HCR is that it can be EASILY amended to do everything that everyone wants, but to date, there has been one amendment to the HCR Law.
What was it? It was the 1099 reporting that the business community howled about - loudly - and forced an amendment.
Why can't we do the same for the public option?
The problem, as I see it Ira, is that everyone expects the President to do ALL of the heavy lifting for what they want, and then they are disappointed when they get nothing. Well, if you ask for nothing, you get nothing. It is as simple as that.
The President will move when he has the backing of the electorate and/or the Democrats to make a move. He CERTAINLY did not have the Democrats backing during the HCR debate, and he got grumbling from the electorate, so what we have is the best it will be until the electorate gets up off its fat azz and DEMANDS more.
I hope that helps, Ira. I have been enjoying your posts.
Should come as no surprise that the President can't get anything forced through without being watered down by republican "compromise". The American electorate keeps sending him a cloud of "Blue Dog" Democrats to work with. A mighty heavy lift.
Pietro, Columbus, Ohio and Greg
Couple of things...He had a Democratic House with a ten vote majority and a majority in the Senate and he could not get health care passed. No heavy lifting there, you force the issue and make the democrats vote for reform. That's how Johnson got Medicare passed. You're right...he doesn't rant or rave...what I'm saying just get mad, intense, fight for what you believe. Did you see Anthony Weiner screaming on the floor of the House and on TV. Bright young man who will not go down without a fight or abandon his principles. I really like him. I think the upcoming debt and budget debates will define his Presidency and if he caves now history will not treat him kindly.
Just one mans view on the guy I'm voting for in 2012.
Ira, I actually like what the President has done so far. By stepping back and WATCHING what the President does, I am actually learning quite a bit about how this President operates. The word I would use is 'shrewd'. What looks like a 'cave in' is actually a setup for something better.
Case in point - the last budget debate. The GOPers and the Tea Partyers thought they had the President locked in at $38.5 BILLION in cuts; that actually ended up being $352 MILLION. Who got the last laugh on THAT exchange? Who got the GOPers to give up ALL of their bargaining chips - and they got NOTHING in return?
Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Well, since this is the team he picked, I'm glad to hear he can't think of a better one.
On a personal level, however, I question the choice of David Petraeus, whose only major accomplishment of which I am aware, is that he was the highest ranking general who happened to be advocating a "surge" in Iraq at the exact time that President Bush decided he needed a surge politically. All the others before him who had dared to suggest we needed more troops to do the job right had been summarily fired.
Or has everyone forgotten about Rumsfeld's famous statement about how you go to war with the army you have and not the army you wish you had?
As far as I know, we are still in Iraq and the violence there continues. Petraeus's command of Centcom wasn't particularly distinguished, and was punctuated with the loss of more troops in Afghanistan than in previous years. Afghanistan continues to drag on without much clear direction. How Petraeus is qualified to head the CIA completely escapes me.
But, these are not my choices to make, and I wish them great success, whatever that means anymore.
I was a little afraid of what choice the President was going to make since January. The Administration gave Mrs. Petraeus that cushy , high paying job and I was afraid he was going to get Robert Gates's job. Was Mr, Penetta highly qualified for the CIA job?
Anna, The one the I find curious is Ryan Crocker. Is it because he didn't do such a bad job in Iraq as portrayed by the left or is it because Crocker is about the only one left that hasn't insulted Karzai?
Don't know, maggie. I haven't had any faith in the CIA since the 1970s when they failed President Carter with regard to Iran. As far as I know, they've failed almost all their major tasks since then, too, including Beirut, Iran-Contra, not connecting the dots on September 11, caving in to Bush with regard to Iraq, and most recently failing to foresee the uprising in Egypt, and maybe Libya. To tell you the truth, I almost think that matters less than who runs the Defense Department. I'm sorry to see Gates go because at least he spoke his mind, and his mind spoke reason.
I don't know enough about that one, Rocco. But I do know we're still struggling in Iraq. How much of that has anything to do with Crocker is unclear to me. We might be better served to pick someone who could help see to it that we got rid of Karzai, rather than sucking up to him.
Agree. Maybe he will cutoff Karzai's drug supply.
Iraq is a quagmire without a boundary. Not as many murders are occurring there now because they have run out of people to kill.
Ol' Hannity was hillarious yesterday. Obama releases the certificate, and Sean was P I S S E D to no end.
Go figure, huh? Then, he tries to pre-empt what will surely follow:
'Baggers (I mean, 'bag-ees') are going to move to the next available piece of nonsense (Ayres, Wright, Teleprompters), and people will naturally discount them, all because of all the birth certificate nonsense." or words to that effect.
See, they know they crapped in their own mess-kit, but don't want anyone to notice or say anything about it. Sorry, dimwits. You earned it fair and square!
Watching Hannity's head explode would be worth getting TVO in and of itself DBO. Hee Hee
Gosh since I don't watch Fox I missed Hanninty. But I did see O'donnell's head explode on NBC for like a solid 1/2 hour.
Now I'm now O'Donnel fan, I mean christ he's a full on socialist, but I do got to hand it to him. He stood up and nailed NBC.
Good for him. Now if he could get Schults to learn how to read a simple chart, we'd be in business.
And for the 100th time DBO - stop supporting Fox. It doesn't need the help or the revenue derived from your support. And you know who does, right DBO? Yep, MSNBC.
Spanky, You caught O'donnels big head segment. The one where the camera pans in and his head covers the whole screen? He must think it makes him look serious or they are having a Larry O count the pores contest.
I’m wonder if the really crazy birthers who still don’t except President Obama as President, because of their argument that his father wasn’t a natural born citizen, would object to Gen. Petraeus running for President some day, due to the fact that his father had immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands during the initial phase of World War II.
Ron, You are 100% correct that it is NBC/MSNBC that is driving the birther story. Ol tingle legs can't stop himself. It has been his soul focus for the past month. Why, because the libbies love it and he is in desperate need for ratings before comcast pulls the plug on him and replaces him with prison documentaries.
Great team moving forward Mr. President. Mr. Gates served you well but time for him to go. He is a Republican after all. You need people you can trust around you. It is 50 50 with Republicans, whom you can trust and who you can't, when you are a Democrat. It is even less than for you since most Republicans don't consider you a legitimate President. Thanks for keeping us safe. Obama 2012.