Washington - President-elect Barack Obama announced a
national security team on Monday that will be tasked with mapping
out a new direction for foreign policy and reshape the way the
United States approaches the world.
The new team will focus on ending the conflict in Iraq and will
inherit an escalating conflict in Afghanistan, where the outcome
remains in doubt. They will also have to plot a strategy to prevent
Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and deal with a resurgent
Russia.
'All of us here also agree that the strength of our military has
to be combined with the wisdom and force of our diplomacy, and that
we are going to be committed to rebuilding and strengthening
alliances around the world,' Obama told reporters in Chicago.
By naming Senator Hillary Clinton, 61, as secretary of state,
Obama is presenting the world with a well-known, high-profile figure
to lead foreign policy and represent Washington abroad. She takes a
more hardline approach on foreign issues than Obama and is less
willing to rule out military force.
By keeping the Bush-holdover and highly regarded Robert Gates,
65, in the post of defence secretary, Obama is seeking to ensure
continuity as the US military fights two wars, but Gates will be
given new orders under President Obama.
'I will be giving Secretary Gates and our military a new mission
as soon as I take office: responsibly ending the war in Iraq through
a successful transition to Iraqi control,' Obama said.
Obama also named retired Marine General James Jones, who served
as NATO's supreme allied commander, as his national security
adviser, and foreign policy aide Susan Rice as ambassador to the
United Nations.
Obama plans to pursue a broader diplomatic approach than the
outgoing President George W Bush and rely less on military might by
utilizing American 'soft power.' But he will also be urging allies
to step up their economic and military commitment to Afghanistan.
'The Bush administration basically has been: unilateral if we
can, multilateral only if we must. What the new administration
should say is we should be multilateral if we can, unilateral only
if we must,' Lawrence Korb, an analyst at the Centre for American
Progress in Washington, said.
'What they have to do is change their approach to dealing with
the countries around the world and dealing with the threats to the
United States,' he said. 'And while military option should always be
on the table, it should not be the first option as the current
administration has done.'
Gates has been commended for his handling of the Pentagon since
he took over from Donald Rumsfeld two years ago. He oversaw the
troop buildup in Iraq which helped produce sharp reductions in
violence and holds the respect of the military brass.
Obama pledged during the campaign to remove most US combat forces
from Iraq within 16 months of taking office January 20, and shift
those resources to Afghanistan, where there has been a rapid
deterioration of the security environment and US and NATO forces
have been unable to stomp out the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Obama said he believed the timeframe was still the 'right' one.
It is similar to the US agreement with the Iraqi government that
calls for the withdrawal of all US forces by 2011. 'I will listen to
the recommendations of my commanders,' Obama said.
Obama and Clinton sparred ferociously during the campaign for the
Democratic nomination, and Clinton argued that Obama was too
inexperienced on national security issues to be president. Clinton
backed the war in Iraq and Obama was against it. Now Obama has
brought his chief Democratic critic into his inner circle.
'I think this is fun for the press, to try to stir up whatever
quotes were generated during the course of the campaign,' Obama said
before touting Clinton's credentials.
'She is going to be an outstanding secretary of state. And if I
didn't believe that, I wouldn't have offered her the job,' Obama
said. 'And if she didn't believe that I was equipped to lead this
nation at such a difficult time, she would not have accepted.'
Obama's security team must be confirmed by the US Senate, all
except for Gates, who is an incumbent.
The Republican National Committee was quick to jump on the new
alliance, releasing on is website a series of Clinton quotes during
the campaign criticizing Obama.
'There's a big difference between delivering a speech at an anti-
war rally as a state senator, and picking up that phone at the White
House at 3 am in the morning to deal with an international crisis,'
said one of the quotes.
USA
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