Washington Whispers

Gates, Mullen Departures Present Challenges for Obama

By Paul Bedard

January 13, 2011 RSS Feed Print

The game of musical chairs already upsetting the White House starts soon at the Pentagon, where it could become an even bigger headache for President Obama. Not only is Defense Secretary Bob Gates leaving, but so is the Joint Chiefs chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen. And from the looks of things, replacing Gates might be Obama’s easiest chore, with a handful of favorites, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, on his list. The Joint Chiefs post is different. The easiest and most likely move is to promote the No. 2, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, a White House fave. But that would leave a hole at No. 2. We asked around about giving the Afghan war boss, Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top job, but insiders say that would create a vacuum in Afghanistan and perhaps a potential 2012 challenger to Obama. There’s some talk Mullen might be replaced by another admiral, James Stavridis, head of the European Command, but it’s unheard of to have back-to-back admirals as chairmen.
 

Tags:
Robert Gates,
David Petraeus,
Mike Mullen,
Colin Powell,
Barack Obama,
national security terrorism and the military

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The good news is that Army GEN Martin Dempsey is being moved up to Joint Chiefs out of TRADOC. Powell - don't think so - he blew it on Iraq. How about a woman for once?

Annabelle of CA 4:00PM January 14, 2011

Obama needs to have a Defense Secretary with credibility in Congress (a BIG IMPORTANT factor) who sees the clear need to cut back the military to pre-GWB levels.

Powell is a good man, but he really stepped in it regarding the run-up to Iraq. It would be great to get a budget geek from the Pentagon who is known as supporting a strong defense, but knows where to cut.

Defense needs to cut at least $200 billion asap. Bring back hundreds of thousands stationed overseas to jobs in-country. Let them leave if they wish, but offer them jobs here if they want to play out their terms. They can guard the border, or ports, or work on infrastructure projects. It costs half to have a soldier in-country than it does to have them overseas. Cut old missile and plane and bomb projects no longer state of the art. Fire all overseas contractors and let the military return to cooking its own food and washing its own laundry.

Regarding 2 admirals in a row.... who cares? The services are a joke with all their complaining and competing to get pieces of the pie. Pick the best person - period. Credibility is key - again.

DeeToo of SC 11:53AM January 13, 2011

Technically it is true that there have never been two Admirals in a row selected to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Vut there were THREE Army Four Stars in a row in the 60's. There were two USAF Generals back-to-back in the 70's and another pair of Army Generals (Shalikashvili and Shelton) in a row in the '90s.

The job is too important for this or any administration to arbitrarily restrict themselves to picking an officer based on the color of his uniform.

If, as many say, Admiral Stavridis is the best choice for the job -- the administration would be doing the country a disservice if they selected anyone else.

Dave of DC 11:06AM January 13, 2011

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