President-elect Barack Obama on Monday introduced his national security team, made up of centrist Washington insiders, and promised an overhaul of foreign policy to give added emphasis to diplomacy and bring a “new dawn of American leadership.”
Appearing at a Chicago news conference with secretary of state nominee Sen. Hillary Clinton and five others on his team, Obama said his administration would restore U.S. standing in the world through alliance-building and international institutions, as well as by maintaining U.S. military power.
Military might “has to be combined with the wisdom and force of our diplomacy,” Obama said. He pledged that the nation would exert influence by “the power of our moral example.” His words seemed aimed at drawing a contrast with the Bush administration, which has been widely seen as emphasizing military force and unilateral action.
Even as Obama emphasized his plans for a break from Bush policy, however, there were abundant reminders that the new team will struggle with familiar problems, and that there would be substantial continuity in the way they must deal with them.
Obama said his administration would be committed to maintaining “the strongest military on the planet” and to adding to the ranks of the Army and the Marine Corps.
While emphasizing new efforts to win friends abroad, the president-elect promised to continue the campaign against terrorists, because “there is no place for those who kill innocent civilians to advance hateful extremism.”
Obama acknowledged that while his new administration intended to turn to non-military or “soft power” approaches to overseas challenges, it enters office facing emergencies that may call for the same use of U.S. troops and intelligence that President George W. Bush has relied on. He cited the terrorist attack in Mumbai and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asserting that “the national security challenges we face are just as grave and just as urgent as our economic crisis.”
In one sign of the importance the new president will place on international institutions, Obama said the job of ambassador to the United Nations would again have Cabinet rank, as it had under President Bill Clinton.
Obama said he would nominate Susan Rice, a former State Department official, to the UN post. The national security team will also include Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will continue in his current position; retired Marine Gen. James Jones Jr., the new national security adviser; Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, the nominee for secretary of homeland security; and former deputy attorney general Eric Holder Jr., the nominee for attorney general.
During the news conference, Obama also hinted at his foreign policy priorities. He said he still believed that the 16-month period for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq that he promised in the campaign is “the right time frame,” and that Gates and the military leadership would be ordered from the outset to devise a withdrawal plan.
But he said he would consider the recommendations of his military advisers on implementing the plan and would take into account the safety of U.S. troops and Iraqi interests.
He cited his interest in pushing from the beginning for Arab-Israeli peace, even though many observers are now deeply pessimistic about the outlook for the conflict.
Critics have questioned whether Obama will be able to guide U.S. foreign policy with a team of strong-willed veterans led by Clinton, who was his fierce rival during the long presidential primary campaign. But Obama said the choice reflected his belief in “strong personalities and strong opinions. I think that’s how the best decisions are made.”
Obama said the team members believe they can get along. He promised: “I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out.”
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Obama has chosen a centrist team in part to ensure broad political support as he takes on the politically risky effort of winding down the Iraq commitment while seeking a new approach to the Afghan war, which he says is now being lost.
In introducing his team, Obama stressed qualifications likely to appeal to conservatives as well as to those of other political stripes.
He pointed out that Jones, who served in the Vietnam War, won a Silver Star, and that “generations of his family served heroically on the battlefield, from the beaches of Tarawa in World War II to Foxtrot Ridge in Vietnam.”
He noted that Gates had won respect in both political parties “for his pragmatism and competence.”
Obama’s selections have won praise from Republicans. William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the new Obama team will be largely continuing the second-term foreign policy of the Bush administration.
Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the foreign relations committee, said on ABC’s “This Week” that Obama’s choices were “excellent.”
The new alliance of Clinton and Obama produced some awkward moments. As she entered the news conference and took her position to wait for Obama’s arrival, Clinton listened as one broadcaster loudly recounted to a TV camera the bitterness of the primary — and her loss in the campaign — for the otherwise quiet room.
Clinton smiled gamely during the soliloquy, which ended abruptly when Obama came in.
Later, Obama brushed off a reminder of the primary’s contentiousness when a reporter asked why he would hire Clinton after charging during the presidential campaign that her travels as first lady amounted to little more than having tea with foreign leaders.
He said asking such questions about charges made during the campaign was no more than “fun for the press.”
Clinton, in her first remarks giving a sense of how she would carry out her new job, also argued the case for a more vigorous form of diplomacy. “We know our security, our values and our interests cannot be protected and advanced by force alone nor, indeed, by Americans alone,” she said.
She added that “while we are determined to defend our freedoms and liberties at all costs, we also reach out to the world again, seeking common cause and higher ground.”
Gates, who has made no secret of his eagerness to return to his home in Washington state, made clear that he felt duty-bound to agree to the further stay in office, expected to last about a year.
Referring to the troops serving around the world, he said: “I must do my duty as they do theirs.”
In announcing his selection of Holder, Obama again sought to draw a contrast with the Bush administration, which had been widely accused by Democrats of narrow partisanship under former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales.
Obama said of Holder: “Let me be clear: The attorney general serves the American people, and I have every expectation that Eric will protect the people, uphold the public trust and adhere to our Constitution.”
The nominees are expected to be confirmed by the Senate without much difficulty.
Obama seemed to show a special deference to Clinton at the news conference, at one point calling her “my dear friend.” When it ended, he and Clinton led the rest of the group out of the room, chatting amiably, each with an arm around the other.
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Not always eye-to-eye on foreign policy
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both support withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, U.S. commitment to Israeli security, international action on climate change and a preference for multilateral responses to global challenges such as terrorism. But the president-elect and his secretary of state-designate had plenty of foreign policy disagreements before and during the presidential campaign.
Iraq War: Obama opposed congressional authorization of the war in Iraq, calling it a “dumb war” at an anti-war rally in October 2002. That same month, Clinton voted to authorize war, saying in a Senate floor speech that the resolution “best serves the security of our nation.”
Meeting leaders: In a July 2007 presidential debate, Obama said he would be willing to meet with foreign leaders from rogue nations such as Syria, Iran, North Korea and Cuba. But Clinton disparaged the idea as “irresponsible and, frankly, naive.”
Al Qaeda strikes: Obama said he would strike Al Qaeda terrorists operating in northwest Pakistan if the country’s government was unwilling or unable to take action against them. Clinton said his statement was “a very big mistake.”
Experience: Clinton questioned Obama’s readiness to be commander in chief throughout the presidential campaign, most memorably with a campaign commercial that ominously asked which candidate would be prepared to handle a 3 a.m. phone call during an international crisis. Obama, in turn, mocked Clinton’s claims of foreign policy experience, once telling reporters on his campaign plane, “What exactly is this foreign policy experience? Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no.”
— Mike Dorning
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Obama Cabinet takes shape
ANNOUNCED MONDAY
Secretary of state: Hillary Clinton
Secretary of defense: Robert Gates
Attorney general: Eric Holder
Secretary of homeland security: Janet Napolitano
Ambassador to the UN: Susan Rice
OTHERS
Vice president: Joe Biden
Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner
Secretary of commerce: Bill Richardson*
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Secretary of health and human services: Tom Daschle*
Director, Office of Management and Budget: Peter Orszag
Chief of staff: Rahm Emanuel
* Unofficial picks
11 POSITIONS REMAIN TO BE FILLED
*Secretary of interior
*Secretary of agriculture
*Secretary of labor
*Secretary of housing and urban development
*Secretary of transportation
*Secretary of energy
*Secretary of education
*Secretary of veterans affairs
*U.S. trade representative
*Director, national drug control policy
*Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
TRIBUNE
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James Jones and the environment
Get the nominee’s views on the link between national security and energy at chicagotribune.com/jamesjones