Wednesday, April 27, 2011

U.S., Panetta Petraeus and new heads of the CIA and the Pentagon. So Obama opens to the Republicans

Leon Panetta, now director of the CIA, the Pentagon. And General David Petraeus instead of Panetta, to head the intelligence agency. These are the choices that Barack Obama is preparing to announce this week, and he hopes to appease Republican opponents and strengthen control over the military and security organs of the United States.

The change was largely expected, set in motion by the will of Robert Gates, current Secretary of Defense (appointed by the previous administration, that of George W. Bush) to step down by summer 2011. The reshuffling at the top of the administration but will be even larger. Gen. John Allen, the current deputy commander of U.S.

Central Command in Florida, will replace Petraeus as head of military operations in Afghanistan, and Ryan Crocker, a former ambassador to Iraq and Pakistan, will become head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. The variables that Obama had to take into consideration before deciding the nomination, there have been many.

Above all, however, has prevailed to the question of the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, starting next July. The year 2011 will be, as they say in Washington now, the year of the make or break 'em in Afghanistan, what we hoped would bring the gear shift, positively, in view of the almost total disengagement of 2015.

Obama has to deal with giving Americans the impression of being in total control of the situation (his willingness to be a true commander-in-chief was often questioned by his opponents). Above all, men must deal with its reliable, you can count on with absolute certainty. The team chose their own president to ensure this reliability.

Leon Panetta, 73, is a navigatissimo Democratic chief of staff for Bill Clinton in the White House from 1994 to 1997. Obama has appointed CIA director in January 2009, because Panetta, political training, he promised to fight and stir-established power structures of American intelligence (by ensuring the silence about the methods used by the CIA in the war on terror, which Panetta has regularly done in those years).

From CIA Director, Panetta has had a remarkable experience in the field, traveling 200,000 miles and visiting 40 CIA stations in over 30 countries, mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The intention, the experience of recent years should ensure the ability to manage the conflict and the announced withdrawal.

The centrality of the war is also reflected in other appointments. General Petraeus, who is not a man of Obama, he has conducted for years the U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. CIA to take a look specially trained to manage intelligence operations in countries which are under extensive military operations.

With Ryan Crocker, a former ambassador to Baghdad and the new ambassador to Kabul, Petraeus would then revive the couple who ran four years ago the American withdrawal from Iraq (not to mention that the appointment of Crocker makes it possible to hunt the current Head of Mission U.S. diplomats in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, an ambassador for his opinions, particularly in recent years France has managed to alienate everyone: the military, White House, Afghan President Hamid Karzai).

Finally, there are two other factors that are likely to have counted in the choice of new employees to Obama. Two of these - Petraeus and Crocker - are men of proven faith Republican, rose to the chronicles of U.S. power with George Bush. This appointment confirms the vocation of centrist Obama, his prudence in the detachment, on matters of war and security, by his predecessor.

Obama must have thought but also his unique political future. Petraeus was given by many in Washington as a possible Republican candidate for president 2012. Appointing him to the CIA, Obama is probably released a danger challenger.

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