Obama’s Pentagon-in-Waiting
Obama’s Pentagon-in-Waiting - Spencer Akerman, Washington Independent
Quote:
The rumor started to spread last week. if Sen. Barack Obama won the presidential election, Michele Flournoy would resign from the Center for a New American Security Thursday following the election. Friday at the latest.
It’s not difficult to understand why the talk circulated. Flournoy boasts an enviable resume. A veteran of the Clinton Pentagon, she worked on counter-proliferation issues before playing a large role in shaping the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, an overview of defense strategy and its implementation.
After leaving government service, Flournoy took a high-profile job at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent Washington policy organization, before co-founding the Center for a New American Security, an increasingly influential defense think tank, in 2007.
It’s not just Flournoy. CNAS, as it’s known, is widely considered a likely feeder for the Obama Pentagon, though the organization disputes this — preferring to bill itself as nonpartisan. What CNAS does not dispute is that, over the course of the past two years — overnight, in Washington terms — it has emerged as an energetic center for studying contemporary defense issues, including Iraq, counterinsurgency and the national-security effects of climate change...
While the top tier appointments certainly are important...
key are the meat-and-potatos ASD/DASD positions. I'll be interested to see who becomes ASD(SO/LIC-IC) should Mike Vickers leave and DASD(SOC) should Gunner Sepp also depart and who will be tapped to fill in the remaining three ASD slots in that shop.
Which also begs the question, there's a DASD(SOC) but no DASD(COIN) or a DASD(LIC). I may just point that out and suggest one be created... :D
You're a master of understatment...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
John T. Fishel
of the CNAS folk. John Nagl is a friend; he is "wicked smart." He is also very knowledgeable about COIN and was a principal author of 3-24. If he were to become ASD-SO/LIC (as the article speculates) it would enhance the profile of LIC (SASO/MOOTW/Small Wars and the 100 other names).But, I'm not sure that John has the full confidence of the sOF community - it is something he would have to earn. (emphasis added /kw)
I think there's more to it than them having confidence in him. While we all decry parochiality, in the end most of us tend to be a least a little so inclined -- some are, through sad experience, a great deal inclined that way...
While smarts count, experience and a degree of anointation (< new word...) are uh, highly desirable if not borderline mandatory. There. Now we've both understated. :D
Sigh. Good news, I guess. Only half of those names
are scary. It coulda been worse... :(
Foreign Policy's The Dream Team
"... we asked 10 of the world’s top thinkers to name the unlikely team that can best guide No. 44 through the turbulent years ahead."
Surprisingly enough, not one of these thinkers agreed on who would best fill the job of Director of National Intelligence.
However, some of my personal favorites among the choices are:
Quote:
Arnold Schwarzenegger *BONUS PICK
Secretary for Energy and the Environment
The Governator has proven himself to be a get-the-job-done environmentalist who commands international respect. To address this increasingly vital area properly, the next president must view energy and the environment as two sides of the same coin.
Sarah Palin *BONUS PICK :D
U.S. Ambassador to Russia
The governor’s taste for hunting, plain-spoken talk, and foxy boots—not to mention long years of staring at Russia from Alaska—ensure a special relationship with Putin.
This pick will definitely make life more interesting at Foggy Bottom and at posts around the world :D
Quote:
Bill Clinton
Secretary of State
There is no more popular American in the world than the former president, and no one else with comparable energy, knowledge, experience, and credibility to undo the negative stereotypes that have grown out of Washington’s conduct after 9/11.