Obama taps Gates to stay as defense secretary

[unhappycamper]

National security team announced
James Jones, Hillary Clinton round out Obama picks


Obama taps Gates to stay as defense secretary
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 16:19:56 EST

The rumors became fact Monday morning as President-elect Barack Obama announced that Robert Gates has agreed to stay on as secretary of defense and preside over the end of the war in Iraq, the growth of U.S. ground forces and the troop buildup in Afghanistan.

Obama also named Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones as his nominees for secretary of state and national security adviser, respectively, and also named three other members of his “national security team.”

Obama said he would be giving Gates and the military a “new mission as soon as I take office: responsibly ending the war in Iraq through a successful transition to Iraqi control.”

“We will ensure that we have the strategy and resources to succeed against al-Qaida and the Taliban,” Obama said. “As Bob said not too long ago, Afghanistan is where the war on terror began, and it is where it must end. And going forward, we will continue to make the investments necessary to strengthen our military and increase our ground forces to defeat the threats of the 21st century.”

Gates stopped in Chicago en route to Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to be on hand for the formal announcement of Obama’s national security team. Joining Gates on the stage were Clinton and Jones and nominees Eric Holder, for attorney general; Janet Napolitano, for secretary of homeland security; and Susan Rice, for U.N. ambassador.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/military_gates_obama_120108w/%2e

[ixion]

1. I continue to be unimpressed with Obama's choices

and I'm starting to regret voting for him, feeling as though I've been suckered.