National Security Pick: From a Marine to a Mediator

[bk1983]

WASHINGTON — James L. Jones, a retired four-star general, was among a mostly Republican crowd watching a presidential debate in October when Barack Obama casually mentioned that he got a lot of his advice on foreign policy from General Jones.

“Explain yourself!” some of the Republicans demanded, as General Jones later recalled it.

He did not. A 6-foot-5 Marine Corps commandant with the looks of John Wayne, General Jones is not given to talking about his political bent, be it Republican or Democrat. And yet, he is Mr. Obama’s choice for national security adviser, a job that will make him the main foreign policy sounding board and sage to a president with relatively little foreign policy experience.

But General Jones has long been respected and admired by both Republicans and Democrats. He is fluent in French, which he once spoke better than he spoke English after living in Paris from age 2 to 17. He played basketball at Georgetown University, served in Vietnam and has received all manner of decorations as a marine, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V.”

At 64, General Jones bicycles from home to work twice each week, riding the nine miles from McLean, Va., to the offices of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, two blocks from the White House, where he runs a task force on energy. Friends say he is a fan of Toby Keith, the country-music singer and songwriter.

In selecting General Jones, Mr. Obama has also picked a former supreme allied commander in Europe, a man who, at NATO, had to cajole, prod and bully recalcitrant nations. At NATO, he led the American operation in Kosovo. He served as the Bush administration’s envoy to set up an Israeli-Palestinian security model in the West Bank city of Jenin and has traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq on fact-finding missions for the Pentagon.

He has said the war in Iraq has caused the nation to “take its eye off the ball” in Afghanistan and warned that the consequences of a failure there were just as serious as in Iraq.

“Jones brings the same balance that Scowcroft did to the job,” said David Rothkopf, author of “Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power” (PublicAffairs). “Not only does he know how to work the Washington system,” Mr. Rothkopf said, but “he’s deeply steeped in Afghanistan, which is going to be a central front for us

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/politics/29jones.html

 

[dilloduck]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/us/politics/29jones.html

He speaks French---what other qualifications does he need ?
Best of luck to him.

 

[bk1983]

He speaks French---what other qualifications does he need ?
Best of luck to him.

Did you miss this?

served in Vietnam and has received all manner of decorations as a marine, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V.”

Mr. Obama has also picked a former supreme allied commander in Europe, a man who, at NATO, had to cajole, prod and bully recalcitrant nations. At NATO, he led the American operation in Kosovo. He served as the Bush administration’s envoy to set up an Israeli-Palestinian security model in the West Bank city of Jenin and has traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq on fact-finding missions for the Pentagon.

But things have changed in Jenin, much of it thanks to General Jones, both Israeli and Palestinian officials say. The city that once sent waves of suicide bombers into Israel now has Palestinian security officials who have restored order.

“He was able to force all of the different parts of the U.S. government to work together to make Jenin a model of economic hope, despite a very dreary past, and so far, so good,” said David Makovsky, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “He brought clarity to a messy situation.”

 

[geonerd20]

I think it is good policy to have a person who has seen real combat, also become a mediator. If Bush and Cheney had seen any real combat in Vietnam instead of dodging the draft, I suspect we would not be in Iraq today.

 

[editec]

I think it is good policy to have a person who has seen real combat, also become a mediator. If Bush and Cheney had seen any real combat in Vietnam instead of dodging the draft, I suspect we would not be in Iraq today.