Leon Panetta's Revelations and the Crickets on this board.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/world/middleeast/mounting-crises-raise-questions-on-capacity-of-obamas-team.html?smid=tw-share

Obama Could Swap Out Aides Bruised by a Cascade of Crises

 

One day this month, as the nation shuddered with fears of an Ebola outbreak and American warplanes pounded Sunni militants in Syria, President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, invited a group of foreign policy experts to the White House to hear their views of how the administration was performing.

 

She was peppered with critiques of the president’s Syria and China policies, as well as the White House’s delays in releasing a national security strategy, a congressionally mandated document that sets out foreign policy goals. On that last point, Ms. Rice had a sardonic reply.

 

“If we had put it out in February or April or July,” she said, according to two people who were in the room, “it would have been overtaken by events two weeks later, in any one of those months.”

 

At a time when the Obama administration is lurching from crisis to crisis — a looming Cold War in Europe, a brutal Islamic caliphate in the Middle East and a deadly epidemic in West Africa — it is not surprising that long-term strategy would take a back seat. But it raises inevitable questions about the ability of the president and his hard-pressed national security team to manage and somehow get ahead of the daily onslaught of events.

 

Early stumbles in the government’s handling of the Ebola crisis as well as its belated response to the Islamic State militant group have fueled speculation that Mr. Obama may shake up his team, which is stocked with battle-tested but exhausted White House loyalists and cabinet members, like Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who are viewed as less cohesive than the “team of rivals” in Mr. Obama’s first cabinet.

 

“There is an inflection point in every presidency, and this certainly is a logical one, if the president feels he might be better served by some replacements on his team,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

 

While Mr. Blumenthal said the administration had borne up well under the circumstances, the scale and complexity of the problems, he added, “would exact a toll personally and professionally on any group.”

[Jumbo]

 

 

NEVER FORGET!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[visionary]

So apparently we can now add Hagel to the long list of unhappy current and former Obama administration officials....(that includes Panetta, Gates, Hillary, Petraeus, Kerry, Rosa Brooks, Fred Hoff, Robert Ford, Anne Marie Slaughter....)

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/30/politics/hagel-starr-syria-memo-white-house/index.html

Hagel wrote memo to White House criticizing Syria strategy

 

Earlier this month, while on an trip to Latin America to discuss climate change, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sat down and wrote a highly private, and very blunt memo to National Security Advisor Susan Rice about U.S. policy toward Syria.

 

It was a detailed analysis, crafted directly by Hagel "expressing concern about overall Syria strategy," a senior U.S. official tells CNN. The official directly familiar with the contents declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The existence of the memo itself was first reported by the New York Times.

 

Hagel so far has not made his concerns public and is not likely to, according to the official. It comes at a time when the Pentagon is well aware there is growing, but anonymous chatter, that some White House officials are unhappy with Hagel's performance. So far there is no indication the President Barack Obama shares those views.

 

The focus of the memo was "we need to have a sharper view of what to do about the Assad regime," the official said. The official refused to provide additional details, but did not disagree with the notion that Hagel feels the U.S. is risking its gains in the war against ISIS if adjustments are not made.

[Slateman]

So apparently we can now add Hagel to the long list of unhappy current and former Obama administration officials....(that includes Panetta, Gates, Hillary, Petraeus, Kerry, Rosa Brooks, Fred Hoff, Robert Ford, Anne Marie Slaughter....)

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/30/politics/hagel-starr-syria-memo-white-house/index.html

Two reasons:

 

1. I think people became disillusioned prior to taking that particular office

2. I think people are trying to distance themselves from Obama, as his performance has not been popular.

[visionary]

Two reasons:

 

1. I think people became disillusioned prior to taking that particular office

2. I think people are trying to distance themselves from Obama, as his performance has not been popular.

1. True.

2. in some cases yes, but a lot of this has been going on for years.

I think it's long past undeniable that there are some issues with the way this administration handles foreign policy internally as well as externally.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/markknoller

Pres. Obama announces intent to nominate Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken to be Deputy Secy of State. Must be confirmed by Sen.

5:29 PM

I wonder if Kerry was consulted on this.

 

 

Hmmm, well this might just make the friction in the administration worse, although going off of what some foreign policy reporters and analysts have said he's a nice guy and fairly popular among his colleagues.  

I wonder if Sherman would have been harder to confirm because of her role in talks with Iran.

Then again this could be seen as a chance to bring the State Department more in line with the administration's views, and could backfire if Blinken is faulted for his closeness to Obama.

 

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/11/07/obama_taps_senior_aide_for_no_2_state_department_job

Obama Taps Senior Aide for No. 2 State Department Job

 

After months of intense debate between the White House and the State Department, President Barack Obama nominated Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken for the position of deputy secretary of State, the No. 2 job in Foggy Bottom on Friday.

 

The president came to that view despite the opinion of Secretary of State John Kerry, who advocated for Wendy Sherman, the under secretary of state for political affairs and chief U.S. negotiator on the Iran nuclear talks.

 

"This was a really tough decision, very tough because of the quality of the choices, and ultimately, as tough as it was, Kerry felt that Wendy earned it, and so that was his view," one source told Foreign Policy earlier this week.

 

On Friday, Kerry issued a public statement praising Blinken's fitness for the position.

 

"His rare combination of deep policy expertise, impeccable judgment, and an inclusive leadership style will make him an exceptional leader and manager in the department," said Kerry. "His colleagues across the government appreciate his genuine human decency and sense of humor, even in the most stressful of circumstances."

 

A key player on a range of foreign-policy issues within the White House, especially on Syria, Blinken is widely viewed as a collegial and non-ideological consensus-builder in the Oval Office.

 

Blinken has previously served as national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.

 

Ahead of his confirmation, Sherman is serving as acting deputy secretary, the State Department announced Monday.