Chris Bowers of Open Left was on Hardball tonight to discuss Barack Obama’s national security team. Bowers is one of only a handful of prominent progressive bloggers who are concerned (and willing to express their concern) by the rightward tilt of the just announced national security team.
The only unqualified bright spot of today’s foreign policy team announcements is Susan Rice as UN ambassador. Obama has elevated the UN ambassador’s office to the cabinet level so that Rice will have direct access to the President without having to go through the State Department. In her brief remarks today, Susan Rice mentioned the eradication of genocide as one of Obama’s foreign policy priorities. That is very encouraging. Still, the UN ambassador is at best sitting on the far end of the cabinet table, if at all present in Washington.
General Jim Jones as National Security Advisor certainly brings power to the position – but it remains to be seen which direction he drifts and how much control he can exert over Defense and State. My guess is that General Jones is likely to be a National Security Advisor in the mold of Brent Scowcroft. I guess if you are going to tilt right, a Scowcroft type is much better than a Kissinger (or a Condi Rice). However, unlike Scowcroft, Jones does not have the relationship with Obama that Scowcroft had with George H.W. Bush. Obama and Jones will have to develop a relationship fast if they hope to keep Defense and State, especially State, from going off the reservation.
It is also worth noting that Scowcroft’s deputy at the NSC is now Obama’s Secretary of Defense. Maybe we need the foreign policy team of the father to pull out of the mess in Iraq caused by the son.
All in all, it still looks like a foreign policy team a Republican administration would put together – specifically, it looks like a George H.W. Bush foreign policy team.
Where is the token lefty in the top three?
UPDATE: I don’t want to make progressive bloggers’ heads explode, but I should mention that General Jim Jones is on the Board of Directors of Chevron. Chevron is apparently that evil multinational that props up the Burmese junta. We are told by the Daily Kos front page posters that we should boycott Chevron. But, that was then, this is now. Politics indeed makes strange bedfellows.
Mash, after a long break due to the T’giving holidays and having to ‘catch up’ with other things, I finally posted again today not even knowing what ‘wassup’ssss with other blogs and voila..I just posted on this as well. Not commentary style but quoting this Guardian’s columnist (Barack Obama’s kettle of hawks) where he goes into depth as to this neocons wetdream (my wording) of choices..
yep, it’s hard to be a true lefty because no matter what, when it comes to foreign politics/policies, it seems business as usual.
Of course people are still relieved there’s no Palin at the helm, I mean second to the helm, but who needs that when in essence nothing is new? One could argue that on the whole, in Congress and in the Senate, there was never much going on other than stepping in line with the Bush administration but still, there will be the economy and recession troubles to keep our minds off those pesky furin’ affairs..sigh..
Ingrid
Hi Ingrid, I’ll be watching to see who fills up the deputy positions at the State Department. If Clinton brings back people like Dennis Ross, as some reports say she will, I think we can push back Israel-Palestinian peace by another eight years. And, with Ross in there, I doubt anything positive will come out on the Iran front either. Let’s hope Ross manages to stay out of government.
Let’s see what Obama does and how much he exerts himself over Clinton. My guess is that between the push and pull between Obama and Clinton nothing substantial/positive will get done in the Middle East. I will be pleasantly surprised if Clinton does a 180 on her past statements and policy positions in pursuit of a Nobel Peace prize (this is what my progressive friends believe is going to happen – I am skeptical).