Civilian replaces general in key foreign policy post
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WASHINGTON -- In speeding the replacement of the national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, with his deputy, a foreign policy aide with deep political experience, President Barack Obama has given civilian and political advisers a bigger voice in the hard choices of the coming months, including how quickly to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
On Friday, Mr. Obama announced the appointment of Thomas E. Donilon, the principal deputy national security adviser. Mr. Donilon, a Democratic Party stalwart, has advised two previous Democratic administrations.
The long-rumored departure of Mr. Jones, a retired Marine commandant who never struck a close bond with his boss, does not necessarily signal a big swing in administration policy, partly because Mr. Donilon has been running the show for months.
But it does portend a bigger voice for Mr. Obama's political and civilian advisers. Although Mr. Donilon is steeped in national security, his political skills and Capitol Hill connections are well known enough that he was rumored just weeks ago to be a candidate to succeed Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff.
Mr. Jones' exit had been expected at the end of the year, but it came earlier, administration officials said, after the White House became annoyed by the appearance of quotations attributed to Mr. Jones in Bob Woodward's book "Obama's Wars."
Mr. Donilon's reminders inside the White House -- that the U.S. public has limited patience with the Afghan war, and that the country's goals should match its capabilities -- are likely to loom large in the two strategy reviews ahead, one in December and another next summer, when troops are to begin leaving Afghanistan.
In running the White House foreign policy debates, Mr. Donilon has at times been a controversial figure, especially inside the Pentagon, where he angered many officers and senior officials during the review of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy in the fall of 2009. That debate pitted the nation's top military officers -- along with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton -- who sought a heavy troop presence for a prolonged period, against a range of the president's political advisers, including Mr. Emanuel and Vice President Joe Biden, who opposed that.
First Published October 9, 2010 12:48 am
