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Petraeus had Bush's ear. Will Mike Mullen have Obama's?

So, soothing hurt feelings, following protocol, and listening to those who tell you what you want to hear will be Obama priorities in trying to figure out what to do in Afghanistan? Great.

Tags: gwot, coin on 2008-11-21 -All Annotations (8) -About

more fromwww.csmonitor.com

Defense officials are conducting no fewer than three separate strategy assessments to help Mr. Obama decide on a new approach
to confront the radical Islamic forces sowing unrest in the region. One report will come from Gen. David Petraeus, who came
to represent the voice of the Bush administration on Iraq and who now oversees the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Another
due in coming days is from Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the "war czar" at the National Security Council.




But the one that may count the most, say sources in and outside the Pentagon, is the assessment by Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For months, the chairman has said the US must do more to reverse deteriorating security in Afghanistan
– a view Obama is known to share.
many expect
Admiral Mullen to assert his position as top military adviser. General Petraeus's views held sway during the latter years
of the Bush presidency, when the administration was desperate for a turnaround in Iraq. But Petraeus is now aligned in public
thought with Bush policies, and Obama may feel he needs a new face to represent US military endeavors. This could well be
Mullen, who is keen to restore the authority of his post, which had eroded under President Bush.
The connection Petraeus had to the White House, which was encouraged by Mr. Bush, irked some senior officers at the Pentagon
who believed they were put at a disadvantage when they tried to provide advice on the "surge" of American troops in Iraq.

Obama, whose advisers are attuned to that friction, shows signs of wanting to also restore the advisory authority of the chairman.
Add Sticky Note
- Of course. Everyone knows that it's more important to stick to the org. chart so that feelings don't get hurt rather than take advice from a successful, combat-tested commander. Propriety, protocol, and feelings are more important than success.
  posted by TransTracker on 2008-11-20
"I've said during this campaign, and I stick to this commitment, that as soon as I take office I will call in the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, my national security apparatus, and we will start executing a plan that draws down our troops, particularly in light
of the problems that we're having in Afghanistan, which has continued to worsen," Obama said on a "60 Minutes" interview shown
Sunday.
Add Sticky Note
- Translation: "We're going to fight the plan not the enemy. I'm going to listen to advisers in Washington, not advisers in theater."
  posted by TransTracker on 2008-11-20
Mullen appears to be quietly asserting himself. Noting this week that there will be differences among the reports, he said
it will be his job to provide the new president with conclusions that take the other assessments into account.

"While there is a level of independence in each of those, which I think is healthy, I expect ... to take the outputs of those
[reports] and integrate them from my perspective as chairman, in terms of my recommendation for future strategy with respect
to Afghanistan," Mullen told reporters Tuesday.

Add Sticky Note
- And that will certainly make Obama's "decision-making" and "leadership" easier, won't it? In fact, by sticking to the org. chart, he won't have to decide or lead at all! He'll have a perfect cover for not deciding among three alternative recommendations. Instead, he can just say, "Well, that's the the CJCS recommended, so that's what we'll do! After all, he's my official military adviser!"
  posted by TransTracker on 2008-11-20

The U.S. Military Index

In an exclusive new index, Foreign Policy and the Center for a New American Security surveyed more than 3,400 active and retired officers at the highest levels of command about the state of the U.S. military. They see a force stretched dangerously thin and a country ill-prepared for the next fight.

Tags: transformation, iraq, gwot on 2008-07-02 and saved by 3 people -All Annotations (2) -About

more fromwww.foreignpolicy.com

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Security effort expanding beyond Baghdad

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said the Baghdad security operation will be extended beyond the city limits to target these Sunni areas, which he referred to as "the Baghdad belts.""The priority clearly is Baghdad, (but) anyone who kn

Tags: gwot, iraq, TransTracker, GWOT on 2007-03-10 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.usatoday.com

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New U.S. Commander in Iraq Won’t Rule Out Need for Added Troops - New York Times

The new American commander inIraq, Gen.David H. Petraeus, warned Thursday that American troops here faced a long road ahead and left open the possibility of calling in even more soldiers as he described the difficult task of calming the country.

Tags: GWOT, Iraq, TransTracker on 2007-03-10 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.nytimes.com

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White House Vows Veto Over Iraq Plan

House Democratic leaders vowed Thursday to pass legislation setting a deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, a challenge to President Bush's war policy that drew a blunt veto threat in return.

Tags: no_tag, TransTracker, GWOT on 2007-03-09 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.military.com

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Dems Try to Limit Bush?s Authority

Tags: TransTracker, GWOT on 2007-02-23 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.military.com

Four years ago, Congress passed legislation authorizing President Bush to go to war in Iraq. Now Senate Democrats want to take it back.
Four years ago, Congress passed legislation authorizing President Bush to go to war in Iraq. Now Senate Democrats want to take it back.
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Key lawmakers, backed by party leaders, are drafting legislation that would effectively revoke the broad authority granted to the president in the days Saddam Hussein was in power, and leave U.S. troops with a limited mission as they prepare to withdraw.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she expects the next challenge to Bush's war policies to come in the form of legislation requiring the Pentagon to adhere to strict training and readiness standards in the case of troops ticketed for the war zone.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the leading advocate of that approach, has said it would effectively deny Bush the ability to proceed with the troop buildup that has been partially implemented since he announced it in January.

Some Senate Democrats have been privately critical of that approach, saying it would have virtually no chance of passing and could easily backfire politically in the face of Republican arguments that it would deny reinforcements to troops already in the war zone.
In a speech last week, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "I am working on legislation to repeal that authorization and replace it with a much narrower mission statement for our troops in Iraq."