Obama weighs shuffle of top national security posts
WASHINGTON—As US President Barack Obama weighs who should take over key defense posts, media speculated Tuesday that his war commander in Afghanistan might lead the CIA while the current spy chief would move to the Pentagon.
The scenario, possibly a trial balloon floated by some military officials, highlights the tough choices Obama faces with a number of crucial national security jobs – including defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – coming open in the next several months.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is vowing to step down later this year, the military’s top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, finishes his term in September and the high-profile commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, is expected to hand over his post before the end of 2011.
With Gates leaving possibly this summer, CIA Director Leon Panetta – who enjoys solid bipartisan support in Congress — has emerged as a strong candidate to succeed him as Pentagon chief after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared she had no interest in the job.
But if Panetta took over as defense secretary, Obama would have to find a replacement to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
Some unnamed officials told National Public Radio that General Petraeus was being “seriously considered” for the job of CIA director.
The same report by NPR’s Pentagon correspondent said that Petraeus’ supporters were disappointed and “amazed” that the general was unlikely to be named as successor to Mullen as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Some former CIA officials and analysts touted Petraeus as a perfect fit for the spy agency, citing his work with intelligence operatives battling Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere, as well as his experience in Washington’s policy debates.
“General Petraeus would be an exceptional choice to run the CIA,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.
“He has unique experience at the front line in the war against Al-Qaeda and in the inter-agency process in Washington that would be invaluable” as a CIA director, he said.
Expected to exit as commander of the war in Afghanistan later this year, the general’s next job has remained a question mark.
Speculation has focused on Petraeus possibly retiring, serving as NATO’s next supreme allied commander or taking over as the military’s top officer after Admiral Mullen.
But General James Cartwright, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has been seen as the top contender to take over from Mullen amid reports he enjoys strong support from the White House.
In journalist Bob Woodward’s book “Obama’s Wars,” Cartwright was described as the president’s favorite general while accounts of White House debates underscored tensions between Petraeus and Obama’s civilian advisers.
Some in the White House remain wary of Petraeus as a potential political threat, given his hero status among conservatives who have often portrayed him as a possible presidential candidate.
Petraeus has dismissed speculation about a possible White House
bid but taking the CIA post would help round out his resume if he chose to enter the political fray.
The four-star general with a high-powered intellect has been widely credited in Washington for helping to salvage the war effort in Iraq in 2007-2008.
The 101st Airborne Division paratrooper, who rewrote the Army’s manual for counter-insurgency, oversaw a surge of US troops in Iraq at a time of spiraling sectarian violence.
If Panetta takes charge of the Pentagon, he would be the first Democrat to hold the job since William Perry in 1997.
Apart from Panetta, possible candidates to replace Gates at the Pentagon reportedly include a former deputy defense secretary, John Hamre; Democratic Senator Jack Reed; the current undersecretary of defense for policy, Michele Flournoy; former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel; and ex-secretary of state and retired general, Colin Powell.
