Posted on 05/24/2010 10:00:52 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
President Obama's firing of retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair as director of national intelligence highlights a pattern of problems involving senior officials in Obama's administration who once served in the upper ranks of the military.
In addition to Blair, national security adviser James L. Jones, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry and Sudan special envoy L. Scott Gration have faced questions about their performance inside and outside the government. All four achieved the rank of admiral or general before joining the administration.
White House officials say that, other than Blair, the men have largely succeeded after sometimes difficult starts, and that they have the president's support. But their transition from rigid military chains of command to an administration where decision-making often follows different channels has been turbulent.
"As savvy as many of these senior officers have been, this White House is a highly charged political environment," said Stephen Flanagan, who served on the National Security Council staff during the Clinton administration. "This is alien to a lot of them. And this is a less hierarchical administration, with a lot of National Security Council staff seeming to feel they have a great deal of license in adjudicating some of these issues."
SNIP
The president also has had problems with advisers from civilian backgrounds. Last November, he fired White House counsel Gregory B. Craig after months of tumult over the administration's inability to meet its deadline to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Analysts say Obama, who has not served in the military, turned to former generals and admirals in part to dispel fears, raised mostly by his conservative critics, that he would not be tough enough in foreign affairs.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Those senior officers came of age during the Xlinton years. I’m not sure its much of a loss. It is simply the mighty ‘O’ purging the ranks of clintonoids.
K.
As if a supreme court justice decided to hire someone without a law degree as a clerk.
“a pattern of problems involving senior officials in Obama’s administration who once served in the upper ranks of the military”
The fact that these men have sworn an oath to the Constitution over and above The Won couldn’t be part of it?
Nah. Not a chance.
A supreme court justice is not required to have graduated from law school.
Zero’s a lousy manager/leader, so this makes perfect sense.
This only happens when the boss is weak and apathetic. What a surprise.
it will all come down to which side the Military ends up on.
So they’re essentially winging it and if/when something bad happens there’s going to be a lot of blaming it on the “system” and congressional hearings to investigate what went wrong and where. Yippee.
I would consider it an honor to be fired by Obama or any of his pimps for voicing an opinion contrary to his policies, if I didn’t resign first. Is it any wonder that Obama has nobody with any business / operational experience on his immediate staff?
You cannot become a general or an admiral without being a very political animal. These people just don't mix with the kind of politics that Obama plays. Military men have honor.
And really who knows where that will be?
Scott Gration is wearing a Purple Heart for smoke inhalation at the Pentagon on 9/11.
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