national security

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Obama to Broaden National Security Council Power

Prez will boost group's authority on wider range of issues

(Newser) - The decades-old National Security Council will undergo sweeping changes under President Obama, who is expected this week to issue a directive increasing its membership and broadening its authority, the Washington Post reports. The move is part of a strategy to modernize the agency and integrate supervision to cover a wide...

Obama Sneaks Power Back Into the Mix
Obama Sneaks Power Back
Into the Mix
analysis

Obama Sneaks Power Back Into the Mix

Adviser who called Clinton 'monster' lands national security role

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s national security team seems to consist entirely of people known for speaking their minds, observes Ben Smith of Politico, and none moreso than new NSC staff member Samantha Power, best known for calling Hillary Clinton “a monster.” She was booted for the incident, but that...

Obama Turning to McCain for Advice

Former rival is honored guest at inauguration party

(Newser) - Not only is John McCain in town for Barack Obama's inauguration, he's the guest of honor at an event celebrating it, reports the New York Times. In fact, the president-elect has been discreetly consulting his former rival—the one Obama said America can't trust on the Iraq war—on Iraq,...

Ex-CIA Chief, McCain Man Praises Panetta Pick

Leon Panetta's 'breadth of experience' will serve him, US well: Woolsey

(Newser) - James Woolsey, a former CIA director and adviser to John McCain, tells the Huffington Post he’s “impressed overall by the quality” of Barack Obama’s national-security picks, dismissing criticism that Leon Panetta is a poor fit for his former job. Though an intelligence novice, Panetta is amply qualified,...

Obama Not Looking Back on Torture
Obama Not Looking Back
on Torture
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Obama Not Looking Back on Torture

Bush says GOP 'got whipped;' Burris claims seat, 'no question'

(Newser) - Saying his administration will be “looking forward,” Barack Obama suggested he won’t pursue criminal charges against national security officials accused of committing crimes in President Bush’s war on terror. The president-elect also told ABC’s This Week that closing Guantanamo Bay—a key tenet of his...

Kissinger High on Obama-Clinton Team
 Kissinger High on 
 Obama-Clinton Team 
OPINION

Kissinger High on Obama-Clinton Team

Obama's sound choices pose cooperative challenges

(Newser) - Barack Obama wasn’t afraid to take risks in choosing his national security team, and the outcome has left Henry Kissinger optimistic, he writes in the Washington Post. Each member comes to the “team of heavyweights” with well-established views and an “autonomous constituency.” That could mean a...

Obama Unveils Security Team Starring Clinton, Gates

Security not a partisan issue, president-elect declares

(Newser) - Barack Obama officially announced his national-security team today, a group including primary rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and Bush holdover Robert Gates as defense secretary, the AP reports. “One of the dangers in a White House, is that you get wrapped up in group-think,” Obama said,...

Obama Finds Intelligence Posts Tough to Fill

Intelligence posts next, but harder to fill

(Newser) - No surprises are expected as Barack Obama formally nominates his national security team today, leading with Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates. But the president-elect is having trouble with intelligence positions, the Wall Street Journal reports, as he looks for experienced hands not tainted by service in the...

Obama Foreign-Policy Team Signals Shift to Diplomacy

Clinton, Gates, Jones will lead diplomatic reform

(Newser) - The three lead players on the national security team Barack Obama will announce today have each historically been more hawkish than the president-elect—but all have embraced his plan for a sweeping foreign policy shift, the New York Times reports. Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates will work...

Ga.'s Chambliss on Runoff: 'We'll Win Again'
Ga.'s Chambliss on Runoff: 'We'll Win Again'
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Ga.'s Chambliss on Runoff: 'We'll Win Again'

Fellow GOP senators praise Obama picks, pledge bipartisanship

(Newser) - Despite failing to muster 50% of the vote Nov. 4, Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he would prevail in Tuesday’s runoff against Democrat Jim Martin. “We’ll win again,” the Georgia Republican declared on Fox News Sunday. But Chambliss declined to say he would benefit from the lower...

Obama Girds for 'Unprecedented' Economic Crisis

President-elect focusing on security, trust, downturn and Gitmo, he tells 60 Minutes

(Newser) - National security, the economy and breaking America's addiction to fossil fuels are Barack Obama's key priorities, he revealed in his first sit-down TV interview since becoming president-elect. He's focusing first on security because "transition periods are times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack," he explained on 60 Minutes ...

Global Economic Crisis Threatens US Security

(Newser) - The global economic crisis is raising the threat to national security, the Washington Post reports. Experts and intelligence officials worry that mounting inflation and unemployment in Third World countries could spark radical movements and destabilize friendly governments. What’s more, strained budgets in the West mean less money to spend...

Obama Gets First Taste of Commander-in-Chief Role

Gets first national security briefing, assembles staff

(Newser) - Barack Obama receives his first top-secret national intelligence briefing today, and with it his first taste of life as commander-in-chief, reports Time. Already international concerns are vying for Obama’s attention—Hamid Karzai is demanding the president-elect reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s PM wants him to end...

Mac Should Muzzle Staffers, Drop Robocalls, Talk Security

Remind voters why they admired him: Kristol

(Newser) - William Kristol has some advice for John McCain: “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.” In a recent poll, 64% of respondents said they believe McCain spends more time attacking Barack Obama than making his own case. The senator ought to pull his negative ads, robocalls, and...

Elect the Guy Who Can Prevent This
 Elect the Guy 
 Who Can Prevent This 
OPINION

Elect the Guy Who Can Prevent This

Keeping terrorists from striking US with nukes is next president's only real goal

(Newser) - Fannie and Freddie, health-care reform, and Wasilla, Alaska, are just meaningless election “commentary” to Jeffrey Goldberg, who writes in the New York Times that nuclear terrorism is the only issue that matters. Proliferation experts say the chance of a terrorist group detonating an atomic bomb in the US could...

Thai Protests Trigger Web Crackdown

After violent protests, state hopes to quash 400 sites that threaten 'national security'

(Newser) - Thai authorities are trying to shutter 400 websites, the Guardian reports, in the wake of anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok that led the prime minister to declare martial law yesterday. The move targeted sites that were said to have “disturbed the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or...

McCain Rips Obama on Defense
 McCain Rips Obama on Defense 

McCain Rips Obama on Defense

Accuses Dem of putting 'political self-interest' over 'national interest'

(Newser) - John McCain blasted Barack Obama’s “shifting positions” on Iraq during a speech before a veterans group today, the New York Times reports. McCain slammed Obama for a vote against troop funding, and anti-surge statements. “Both candidates in this election pledge to end this war and bring our...

Police May Take Bigger Role in Intelligence

Critics fear Justice Dept. plan would infringe on civil liberties

(Newser) - The Justice Department has proposed expanding the ability of state and local police to gather intelligence on Americans, share it with federal officials, and hold onto it for a decade, the Washington Post reports. Supporters of the move say authorities would keep a close eye on the new practices to...

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues
 FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

(Newser) - The FBI's obsessive focus on the wrong anthrax suspect caused the agency to miss some important clues pointing to Bruce Ivins, the Los Angeles Times reports. Records of key-card swipes show that Ivins, who killed himself last month before being charged, spent hours in a "hot suite" with access...

Anthrax Security Gap: 'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness

(Newser) - The case of anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins has raised fears about security protecting Americans from the world's deadliest germs, the Washington Post reports. The scientist thought to be behind the deadly 2001 attacks had serious mental health problems and expressed homicidal thoughts to his frightened therapist—but his supervisors at...

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