Archive for the ‘Defense Policy’ Category
President
Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy (2009)
On March 27, 2009, President Obama, flanked by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates, announced his new strategy toward
the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The video
of his announcement and the text of President Obama’s
announcement, with links, are at http://www.historyguy.com/obama_afghanistan_strategy_2009.htm
President Barack Obama, on the second full day of his presidency signed executive orders related to dealing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and the prisoners held there.
Below are links to pages with the text of President Obama’s three executive orders dealing with the topic of Guantanamo and the prisoners.
http://www.obamapresidency.us.com/obama_executive_order_closing_guantanamo_prison_01.22.09 : deals with the closure of the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where prisoners from the War on Terror were held.
http://www.obamapresidency.us.com/obama_executive_order_review_detention_policy_options_01.22.09: calling for a review of the policies put in place by the Bush Administration dealing with the detention, trial, transfer, release, or other disposition
http://www.obamapresidency.us.com/obama_executive_order_ensuring_lawful_interrogations_01.22.09: ensuring the lawful interrogation of prisoners seized in the War on Terror.
Bush and Obama cabinet member, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, is trying to keep a significant number of the Bush administration political appointees to remain on the jobs at the Pentagon until the incoming Obama administration finds replacements. This unusual move is intended to prevent a leadership vacuum at among the military’s civilian leadership as the U.S. wages war on two major fronts; Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gates confirmed that the Obama Transition Team is on board with his attempts to prevent a vacuum at the Pentagon as with the change in adminstrations, as is usually the case at all federal agencies and departments. Gates intend to keep, at least temporarily, most of the service secretaries and undersecretaries, whose replacements will need Senate confirmation. Senate confirmation is a process which often takes months.
Senior officials asked to stay include John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and James R. Clapper, undersecretary of defense for intelligence.
While this move is obviously done for practical reasons, (the fact the U.S. is deeply in war, and this will not change quickly), some anti-war activists and bloggers are voicing displeasure at the apparent turnabout by Obama in keeping so-called neoconservatives and Hawks in positions of authority in the civilian leadership at the Pentagon. Obama may be seeking to avoid public battles with the military establishment early on, as is belived at http://www.openleft.com/, but most likely, he is doing whatever he can to prevent costly national security mistakes or omissions if dozens of Pentagon positions go unfilled for the first few months of 2009. This appears to be a practical move on the part of President-Elect Obama.
