My "Dream Team" at Defense and State

I think that nomination of Susan Rice to be Secretary of State would be a bad idea.  This has nothing to do with the Benghazi canard.    She recited the administration's screed on the attack in Libya.  BHO said at his 14 November press conference that he, and not Rice, is the proper target for their animus over Benghazi.  He was quite correct in that statement.  My problem with Rice is that she has often been described to me by those close to her as a hyper-ambitious and ruthless person who would be a threatening presence in the state Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom

At the same time, I think the appointment of Senator John Kerry to be Secretary of Defense would be an insult to the armed forces that he falsely denounced in lying testimony and statements after his return to Vietnam during the war.  The same Kerry faked his participation in a "ceremony" in which he and other malcontents threw their military medals away.  Kerry had bought copies to throw in order to be able to keep his own.

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IMO the president should nominate former senator Bob Kerrey to be Secretary of Defense.  Kerrey was a long serving and moderate member of the senate from Nebraska.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in VN as a SEAL officer.  He was badly wounded in the same war.  Kerrey was president of the New School University in New York for a long time.  He would be respected by the armed forces.

John Huntsman, Jr. would be my choice for Secretary of State.  A moderate Republican, his nomination would demonstrate the sincerity of BHO's desire to "work across the aisle."  Huntsman was US ambassador to China and speaks fluent Chinese.  China should be a major focus of our diplomacy.  To have a secretary of state so familiar with that country would be a significant advantage.  pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Kerry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr.

 

Comments

[charlie]

Huntsman would be great at state. So would John Kerry.

I don't think Bob Kerrey would be good at all. I'd look for some CEO, although a D leaning one is pretty scarce. You need someone who can run an office, and Kerry isn't the best for that.

[Jay Mcanally]

I agree, Bob Kerrey and John Huntsman (perhaps the ONLY surviving rations Republican) would be good picks. Alas, that pretty much rules them out...

[Basilisk]

I second the nominations.

[oofda]

Spot on...Huntsman was highly respected by his subordinates when he was in Beijing.

[JohnH]

These choices sound good to me.

IMHO Kerry would be a disaster at State. I was in Lebanon a couple years ago, and it turned out that Kerry was there, too. He appeared on TV and addressed the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which, shall we say, was having issues. They refused to talk about false witnesses and couldn't be bothered with asking any questions about Israeli aerial surveillance of Hariri's motorcade about the time it blew up.

Instead of addressing these basic issues of justice, Kerry simply said that the STL was going to render its verdict and there was nothing Lebanon could do about it. That's about as undiplomatic as it gets. Worse, it signaled to Lebanon that--credibility be damned--the court was nothing more than another kangaroo court that Lebanese already knew well. It was not to be that impartial arbiter of justice which had been hyped from its start.

Kerry seems to be tone deaf, an obvious flaw in a diplomat, though obviously not a fatal one, considering the performance of our most recent Secretaries of State.

[twv]

Sir:
You DID endorse Obama.
What goes around comes around.
Rice at State, Kerry at Defense, and who know what else looney left appointees?

Notice the huge increase in jobless claims this morning?
One week AFTER the election; what a coincidence.....LOL.
I know: Sandy did it.
But, everyone will get free ice cream.

[turcopolier]

TWV

You know very well that the spike in unemployment claims was caused by "Sandy."

Susan Rice is not an inevitability at State. Huntsman would be much better.

You think Bob Kerrey is a lefty? His MoH means nothing to you? Really? His CofS in the senate was a major right to life activist and a neocon smpathiser.

[linhtu]

I agree with your excellent choices Col Lang.

[DH]

I get the sense that by floating Susan Rice and John Kerry, President Obama is messing with the heads of the opposition and having a good laugh dialing them up. Then again, he did stick it to Hilldog when he elevated Rice and Power, and made Rice reportable to him and not to her.

[toto]

Jon Huntsman actually tried to run against Obama this year! Even if he were nominated, would he accept? Are there precedents?

[Fred]

What flavor will you be getting? I'd take a scoop up 'chunky monkey' but would give all that up is someone would slip this post into Obama's daily briefing.

[agin' cajun]

I have been wondering the same. It's like waving the cape in front of a wounded bull. Chances are the bull will further injure himself in the ensuing charge. I normally would be all out in favor of anything that pisses off Lindsey Graham. In this case, I have never liked Kerry and Rice (right or wrong) is damaged goods. Whoever Obama nominates, I hope that it gives the Queen Cracker indigestion and pushes him to "just have a hissy fit". .

[turcopolier]

toto

http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=9&subjectID=2

pl

[LeaNder]

I am with you that Rice would be a bad choice. From my limited observation capabilities, that is.

On another topic, or on the way to Israeli elections and/or Cast Lead II

"The message was simple and clear: You failed - you're dead. Or, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak likes to say, "In the Middle East there is no second chance for the weak."

Haaretz by the way allows 10 free articles per month for subscribers.

[Andrew]

I was at The New School when Kerry was there and found him very approachable and willing to engage with the students on all matter of policy questions. It was their great loss when he left. He was an odd but brilliant fit for a lefty school of shadowy continental philosophy.

[William R. Cumming]

Not bad but I would consider Robert Zoellich [sic] at STATE as the person with the best grip on a changing world. Ignore his Goldman Saks background.

AS to John Kerry the world's best example of why the entitled should not be given power. After all the time from the end of involvement in RVN to 2004 Kerry was unable to express an honest opinion about US involvement in RVN, a war largely blamed on LBJ and the DEMS. If Humphrey had broken with LBJ he would have been President IMO.

Bob Kerry a useful #2 at DoD but not #1. Instead perhaps a Chuck Hagel or Hagle clone. Someone with active service in combat. How about James Webb?

[The beaver]

Rice has been damaged goods since her first year in Turtle Bay. The other members of the P5 do not respect her, in particular Russia and some ME countries of the G77.
Whoever is nominated at the UN , should she become SOS will be at a disadvantage, especially when the UNSC is voting on something crucial. She will have to tackle the FM of Russia and this will be interesting. Another country which will treat her as minced meat will be Israel.

[turcopolier]

WRC

Perhaps you did not understand that Kerrey holds the Medal of Honor? This award is given "for valor and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty" IN COMBAT and only in combat. It is the highest COMBAT decoration given by the United States. Webb is not interested. That is why he left the senate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Medal_of_Honor_recipients_for_the_Vietnam_War

pl

[JohnH]

Ummm--Hillary?

[DH]

Ever since I saw Graham give a Twainesque reply at some Senate hearing I've been partial to him, but by all means he should be provoked just for the theatre.

[Mike Martin, Yorktown, VA]

I've read the same re Susan Rice; that she's ambitious to a fault and abrasive as well. Agree on Huntsman. Do not disagree on Bob Kerrey (gotta watch the KerrEy/Kerry spelling), but what would you think of Chuck Hagel as SECDEF?

Elsewhere I've read of bringing back Valerie Plame Wilson to run CIA. Don't know her qualifications for that, but highly doubt that she & her family would want to leave Santa Fe. The National Capitol Region is not everyone's cup of tea.

[turcopolier]

MM

Valerie Plame was a junior person in CIA. Hagel would be fine but he and Huntsman are both Republicans and I think it unlikely that two Rs would be selected. Hagel is at the PFIAB, a good place for him.

Sorry about the spelling, sort of. pl

[turcopolier]

WRC et al

Bob Kerrey's citation for the MOH:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a SEAL team leader during action against enemy aggressor (Viet Cong) forces. Acting in response to reliable intelligence, Lt. (j.g.) Kerrey led his SEAL team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy's area political cadre known to be located on an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise the enemy, he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located. Splitting his team in 2 elements and coordinating both, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey led his men in the treacherous downward descent to the enemy's camp. Just as they neared the end of their descent, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and Lt. (jg.) Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade that exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks. Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he displayed outstanding courage and presence of mind in immediately directing his element's fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radio, Lt. (jg.) Kerrey called in the second element's fire support, which caught the confused Viet Cong in a devastating crossfire. After successfully suppressing the enemy's fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain calm, superlative control as he ordered his team to secure and defend an extraction site. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey resolutely directed his men, despite his near unconscious state, until he was eventually evacuated by helicopter. The havoc brought to the enemy by this very successful mission cannot be over-estimated. The enemy soldiers who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort. Lt. (jg.) Kerrey's courageous and inspiring leadership, valiant fighting spirit, and tenacious devotion to duty in the face of almost overwhelming opposition sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service." pl

[Cal]

I would go for Bob Kerry over John Kerry, no contest. But while his Medal of Honor and military background would add extra institutional respect I don't know he is as 'politically' hard as as what I would like to see at Defense. I have the impression Hagel would be the least "deferential" to repub or liberal and particulary foreign agendas at Defense.

[William R. Cumming]

PL! Thanks and knew of Bob Kerry's combat history and awards including MOH for the event in which I believe he lost a leg.

The problem is not his lack of courage or combat experience just that DoD is so huge and experience as a US Senator or as a SEAL or as a University President probably not enough basic grip on DoD and its wide flung activities at this point.

Is the DoD bench on board and elsewhere so thin? And your opinion on Webb?