NATIONAL SECURITY

The General’s Marching Orders

By John Barry, Dan Ephron and Richard Wolffe | NEWSWEEK
Published Nov 29, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Dec 8, 2008

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  • Posted By: ok4u @ 12/03/2008 8:10:48 PM

    The author wrote: "In Washington, the truism of the moment is that President-elect Barack Obama has cleverly set out to create a "team of rivals." That's interesting. When Obama does it, it's clever. Bush did it as well, and all we heard was about how nothing could get done because of the jealousy and infighting. Must be selective understanding of clever.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 12/04/2008 12:38:11 PM

      Except that Bush never did that. He hired a pack of career ***-kissers.

      • Posted By: ok4u @ 12/04/2008 7:33:48 PM

        You mean like Colin Powell?

        • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 12/05/2008 11:48:31 AM

          Unfortunately, yes. It is sad that Colin Powell decided to trash his honor so late in his career, by peddling that pack of lies at the UN.

  • Posted By: karaswart @ 12/03/2008 3:59:24 PM

    Today is December 3rd. On December 3rd, 1971 the Pakistani Army pogrom of innocent Bengali Muslims finally stopped in a land which is now called Bangladesh. Over 3 million Bengali Muslims were killed by the Pakistani Army. Thousands of Muslim women were raped. That is the brave Pakistani Army that the US depends on. A fitting tribute to this genocide is being planned in Dacca, Bangladesh. The world must never forget

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 12/02/2008 1:10:35 AM

    "OBAMA "HAS HIS DREAM TEAM""(eddiewhere 2008).. I am surprise that no one has used this term. I am sure I will hear it tomorrow. OBAMA HAS SELECTED HIS DREAM TEAM. THIS TEAM HAS ALL STAR CREDENTIALS. EACH OF THEM ARE HALL OF FAMERS. HILLARY, GATES, RAHM.
    HOPEFULLY, THIS DREAM TEAM WILL KEEP THEIR EYES ON THE REAL THREAT RUSSIA AND CHINA. These two countries have already launched a very successful CYBER WAR against AMERICA. They are able to spy on our networks and steal our technological secrets and our patented software.
    RUSSIA, INDIA AND CHINA ARE THE SUPERPOWERS OF THAT SIDE OF THE WORLD. They are the key to a multinational strategy. Managing these realtionships is like walking a tight rope(eddiewhere 2008). China and India are always at odds and have a delicate relationship to say the least. I know ZaKaria wrote an article on this relationship six months ago. He needs to write another one.
    Another situation that needs to be monitored closely is ORGANIZED CRIME IN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY when it comes to cyber crime and nuclear weapons. These Eastern European countries are a potential conduit for passing NUKES to terrorists.

    These Terrorists will be based in the Five MUSLIM breakaway REpublics in Central ASIA( Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistanan) . They can potentially form an alliance with China, who has a long history of strained relationships with INDIA. To the MUslims India is an enemy and a traitor. Remeber how Hitler rose to power, a depressed economy in EUROPE. THESE REPUBLICS in Central Asia have all the same elements.. Russia and CHina will form an alliance based on their mutual FRICTION with INDIA(WHO IS CHALLENGING TO BE THEY PREMIER SUPERPOWER IN ASIA).

    LOOSE NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS IS A BIG PROBLEM BECAUSE ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS IN EASTERN EUROPE CAN GAIN ACCESS to them and sell them to terrorists.
    THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE 5 MUSLIM STATES IN CENTRAL , AND CHINA IS A Big Threat.

    "OBAMA IS NOW THE WORLD"S FIRST PRESIDENT" eddiwhere 2008.. CAN HE SUCCESSFULLY MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA INORDER TO PREVENT THESE FIVE MUSLIM REPUBLICS FROM SLIPPING DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO ECONOMIC DEPRESSION. ONCE AGAIN REMEMBER HOW HITLER ROSE TO POWER A DEPRESSED ECONOMY IN GERMANY WHO WAS TORCHERED ECONOMICALLY AFTER WORLD WAR ONE BY THE ALLIES RUSSIA, FRANCE AND BRITAIN. RUSSIA IS DOING THE SAME TO ITS FORMER REPUBLICS UKRAINE ect.....

    OBAMA IS LIKE THE COACH OF THE DREAM TEAM(BASKETBALL) TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT HE HAS A PLAN TO MAKE JORDON, BIRD AND MAGIC WORK TOGETHER AS ONE FORCE TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. OR LEBRON, KOBY AND PAUL PIERCE. I AM SURE HE CAN AND WILL DO JUST FINE AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE THE ENVY OF THE WORLD AGAIN.

    OBAMA HAS HIS DREAM TEAM AND ALL THE TOOLS FOR A MUCH NEEDED GLOBAL STRATEGY.

    P.S. REMEMBER BARAK YOUR BLACKBERRY HAS ALREADY BEEN HACKED.

  • Posted By: tom38 @ 11/30/2008 1:59:48 PM

    I am very happy James Jones will be runing the NSC.
    He is a good man& a great mind for policy.

    • Posted By: prochef4u @ 12/01/2008 10:40:30 PM

      General Jones is a great pick. I served under him when he was a Captain 33 years ago and even then he had a very calming demeanor but he was firm. A great leader. He knows how to push your buttons in a quite way and get results. I learned so much from just watching and listening to him.

  • Posted By: 2178743 @ 12/01/2008 1:03:28 PM

    A President can control any appointee. Given that I won't be getting a Republican Secretary of State, I do like that he picked a rival. Hilary will respect his Presidency, or be embarrassingly ousted. But, she is strong enough to speak her mind; that is always a good thing. I am interested to see if the Obama administration is criticized as much as Bush when they realize they can't talk people out of developing nuclear weapons and wanting to destroy the free world. Bill tried that with North Korea, that just resulted in moving them along towards nukes.

    http://www.usefulopinions.blogspot.com

  • Posted By: GeorgeC_74 @ 12/01/2008 11:52:51 AM

    HAHAHAHA more sh1t shoveled to us by the USG and its zombies. The words truism and washington go together like oil and water. newsweek = poop.

  • Posted By: sweetlucy47 @ 12/01/2008 11:44:00 AM

    Great team. PE Obama is using his brain not his gut as W did and it shows. When Gates retires as he says he will, then Jones can step into the Pentagon if he wants to.

  • Posted By: First Sergeant USMC @ 11/30/2008 1:32:32 AM

    A superb choice. Then in two years he can move over to replace Gates as SECDEF. That would be a very smart move on Obama's part.

    • Posted By: sweetlucy47 @ 12/01/2008 11:42:27 AM

      I agree, that would be a great choice. May not wait 2 years but only 1 as Gates has said he wants to retire soon.
      I think this is a great team we have here. PE Obama is using his brain instead of his gut as W did and it shows.

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 12/01/2008 2:37:52 AM

    Like what I have commented on so many occasions, the president will let us down. He is not the real power. It is the people behind him who will sway him around. The voters will be ignored. The whole thing is a farce.

  • Posted By: Wrldtrvlr @ 11/30/2008 7:27:20 PM

    Senator Hillary Clinton must not take the position of Secretary of State, because not US born Obama, who with the blessing and support of all the liberal media, has laughed his way all the way to the White House will fail; indeed, Senator Clinton can run in 2012 and easily become president.. If she is part of Obamas illegal administration, it will be more difficult for her to blame Obama for the failures of his administration when she runs in 2012..

    • Posted By: Republican be gone @ 12/01/2008 1:36:18 AM

      Look, I realize that wallowing in paranoia might be exciting but McCain lost the election and Obama isn't going to be an illegal president, despite what the rebiblican talking points now circulationg might say.

      And anyway, where were you when Dubya was spying illegally on American Citizen, issuing unconstitutional signing statements, making torture the policy of this country and generaly being dishonest about a lot of other stuff?

  • Posted By: V.J. @ 11/30/2008 5:56:09 PM

    This administration's (Obama's) selection of key players is, in my opinion, unparalleled in our nation's history. The appointment of Major Jones is a stroke of genius. After reading so much about our president-elect for over two years, I was convinced he possessed the qualities of intelligence, vision, and strength in body and mind to lead such a strong group of men and women. I believe our nation will be at a much better place both domestically and internationally eight years from now. I don't expect perfection or instant improvement; rather good decisions based on weighing ALL the facts. I can bear the burden when I can be optimistic of our future.

  • Posted By: bt4u @ 11/30/2008 4:02:56 PM

    Foreign policy inexperience as tyhey come into offic is the only thing Obama & Bush have in common. Obama unlike Bush is keenly interested in the world & the job of being president [for now anyway; I say this because he has a track record of restlessness]. What Obama doesn't know he has the abiliity & inclination to learn quickly nlike Bush. Managing strong egos in a "team of rivals" requires one strongly held principle: leadership is not a democracy. If he leads, truly leads, the others will follow.

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