Obama unveils national security team
US President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his national security team
yesterday, including formally announcing his intention to nominate his
onetime rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New
York, as the next secretary of State.
Obama also announced his intention to keep current Defense Secretary
Robert Gates in his post, likely for at least a year in the new
administration. The president-elect also said he would nominate Susan
Rice as ambassador to the United Nations, retired Marine Gen. James
Jones as his national security adviser, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as
homeland security director and Eric Holder as attorney general.
"The national security challenges we face are just as grave, and just
as urgent, as our economic crisis," Obama said during a Chicago news
conference where he was surrounded by his newly chosen team. "We are
fighting two wars.
Old conflicts remain unresolved, and newly assertive powers have put
strains on the international system. The spread of nuclear weapons
raises the peril that the world's deadliest technology could fall into
dangerous hands. Our dependence on foreign oil empowers authoritarian
governments and endangers our planet."
Obama said he, his security team and the American people believe "now
is the time for us to regain American leadership in all of its
dimensions" as he sought to strike a balance between "maintaining the
strongest military on the planet" and employing "the wisdom of our
diplomacy." LA Times
|