Gates at Defense

Many progressive pundits are worried about the retention of Mr. Gates at the Pentagon. This nervousness will increase as the odds on his retention grow shorter. I noticed that Josh M, who has been following the matter closely had this to say today:

I don't know anyone more wired about what's going on in the foreign policy and national security world than Chris Nelson of the Nelson Report, a DC insider sheet on foreign & defense policy and international trade. And in tonight's edition he seems quite confident that Gates is staying on at the Pentagon "well into next year, if not also through completion of the pivot from Iraq to Afghanistan/Pakistan."

Josh noted yesterday that "One thing to understand about Bob Gates is that he's a Scowcroft guy." Josh noted the importance of this by pointing out that Scowcroft has been

"...n an important player, far in the background and not for public consumption, in the Obama world. Remember, Hagel, who's sort of been Obama's Joe Lieberman (in the good sense) is very close to Scowcroft. He and Powell are close too. He's the guy who brings all this stuff together."

It is also important to remember that Gates was a member of the Iraq Study Group. Why is that important? Well consider this recommendation from the ISG:

RECOMMENDATION 9: Under the aegis of the New Diplomatic Offensive and the Support Group, the United States should engage directly with Iran and Syria in order to try to obtain their commitment to constructive policies toward Iraq and other regional issues. In engaging Syria and Iran, the United States should consider incentives, as well as disincentives, in seeking constructive results.

That strikes me as being in step with Obama's foreign Policy.

I see the Gates retention as a move designed to assist Obama move forward on a tough engagement with Iran - something that should have bipartisan support.

Closing Gitmo

The transition period has been full of interesting rumor and counter-rumor. One story that is picking up momentum is focused on the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. Human rights activists, foreign policy advisors and ordinary citizens have been pushing for its closure for a number of years. Finally, with the election of Obama as President, we may be seeing the removal of this black stain on the image of our country.

Peter Finn, in an A1 story for the Washington Post, noted that the Obama Administration was going to make a review of all 250 or so Gitmo cases a priority and that they wanted to move rapidly to shut it down. This portion of the story captured things well:

Announcing the closure of the controversial detention facility would be among the most potent signals the incoming administration could send of its sharp break with the Bush era, according to the advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the president-elect. They believe the move would create a global wave of diplomatic and popular goodwill that could accelerate the transfer of some detainees to other countries.

I believe that Obama understands that Gitmo needs to be shut down - he was spoken out powerfully on this issue in the past. Now he needs support from the American public as his Administration looks to act. Many activists will push for action on Gitmo on day 1 (see this ACLU campaign for e.g.) - I don't need to see this happen on day 1 - I'll settle for the first 100 days.

Elections Have Consequences

Elections have consequences. That is a reality in this and any other democracy. With that in mind I want to welcome you to my humble little area of the political blogosphere where I will try to track whether the new President is succeeding in pushing through his agenda. As the title of the blog makes clear, I believe that President elect Obama has a mandate - he now has to use it.