A Handpicked Team for a Foreign Policy Shift

[Idealism]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — When President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team on Monday, it will include two veteran cold warriors and a political rival whose records are all more hawkish than that of the new president who will face them in the White House Situation Room.

Yet all three of his choices — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, the current and future defense secretary — have embraced a sweeping shift of priorities and resources in the national security arena.

The shift would create a greatly expanded corps of diplomats and aid workers that, in the vision of the incoming Obama administration, would be engaged in projects around the world aimed at preventing conflicts and rebuilding failed states. However, it is unclear whether the financing would be shifted from the Pentagon; Mr. Obama has also committed to increasing the number of American combat troops.Whether they can make the change — one that Mr. Obama started talking about in the summer of 2007, when his candidacy was a long shot at best — “will be the great foreign policy experiment of the Obama presidency,” one of his senior advisers said recently.

The adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the three have all embraced “a rebalancing of America’s national security portfolio” after a huge investment in new combat capabilities during the Bush years.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/us/politics/01policy....

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The Bush regime seemed to think, as many GOP Congressman also believe, that diplomacy is weakness. Since when did trying to talk out our differances mean we were "soft on terror?" I welcome this policy shift, and hopefully we will see more diplomats engaged in discussions with countries, even if we don't see eye to eye.

[Zhade]

1. He so needs Kucinich as an advisor.

Man, that would be awesome. DK is tops when it comes to conflict prevention.

[Wwagsthedog]

3. Agreed

Anything to offset the preponderance of DLC lackeys.

[The Traveler]

7. DK is tops

on a wide variety of topics. I don't agree with him all the time, but he always has something useful to say. One of the most informed and brilliant men in politics.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Shift? What shift?

McCain could have picked this outfit!

What we got here are the lapdogs of the military-industrial complex, hardly reformers!

[Alamuti Lotus]

4. War is Peace, Indy..

The only 'change' seems to be the arrangement of buttons on the sockpuppet's face, making the presentation more palatable to the liberal audience -- the success of which can be evidenced by the sudden multitude of "pro-war" discussions dominating this forum and G.D... I would feign surprise and outrage to find at an "Underground", but I have seen it often enough elsewhere. For an examination of the other wonderful appointments to date, I recommend this piece examining the appointment of Volcker as Federal Reserve chairman, and details his "sound and independent judgement" as a fierce enemy of American workers.

I read Rove's WSJ op-ed, gushing over how great the choices have been so far. Yes, I took the precaution of keeping a vomit bag handy and indeed saw its use.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Now they will be lapdogs for Obama. That's change.

They can carry the big stick, while he talks softly.

[The Traveler]

8. I can't believe I'm saying this

I trust Barack. I thought he was just an empty suit, but I was wrong. Peace comes not from an unwillingness to fight but from the willingness to find other solutions. The tools of war are best used to demonstrate that willingness to fight. The tools of reason are the best tools for finding ways not to fight. War always represents a moral failing on someone's part ... or, at the very best, a failure of the imagination.

[elleng]

10. Thanks, Traveler.

I've wanted to respond here, but have been unable to do so.

Some might be interested in this book review, entitled The Doves were Right.

"Bundy never believed in negotiations with the Vietcong or the North Vietnamese. This, coupled with his enduring faith in the value of military force in almost any terrain or circumstance, were his greatest errors. They contributed to a tragic failure. With the nation now about to inaugurate a new president committed to withdraw combat troops from Iraq and succeed in Afghanistan, the lessons of Vietnam are still relevant. McGeorge Bundy’s story, of early brilliance and a late-in-life search for the truth about himself and the war, is an extraordinary cautionary tale for all Americans."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[The Traveler]

11. You're welcome, but not sure what for ... good book review, tho

I read that earlier. Some of the historical parallels are, well, depressing. Will we never learn?

Sometimes ya gotta fight ... there be bad people out there, and unfortunately they seem fairly well armed and conflict cannot always be avoided. But in the vast majority of cases mass conflict can be resolved peacefully. Iraq is a case in point. We had a few flimsy reasons for invading Iraq ... and a couple of dozen compelling reasons not to do so. And we all know how that turned out for us.

Trav

[balantz]

6. The Times story is just propaganda press for the MIC. n/t

[lib2DaBone]

9. I feel like many of the posters...Obama's picks are not progressive enough for me....... But

I did read a good article yesterday on Huffpost. It explained that because things are falling apart so fast..Obama needs to surround himself (at first), with people who know the system.

I think we need to give Obama a chance.. at least a year ...to do damage control. A second term would be good time to move even more to the left.

The country is in such dire straights...foreign policy and economy, there is no time for OJT. He has to have people who can hit the ground running. I'm sure he will watch appointees carefully and stop any misbehavior. (Not like the Bush Disaster).