TW: Obama's selection of James Jones as National Security Advisor has been overshadowed by other more prominent selections. But the NSA slot is extremely important regardless of the nominee and particularly interesting given Jones' background and capability, it will interesting to see Jones evolve within the new administration. If Jones truly becomes a person who can effectively balance competing views while pushing Obama to consider broad alternatives then a big improvement in our national security policy implementation will likely occur.
From Al Hunt at IHT:
"...In his own right, Jones, 64, is as formidable as the other two heavyweights. He's a retired four-star general; a highly decorated 40-year Marine veteran; a former commandant of the corps and supreme allied commander of NATO forces. He also rejected Bush's overtures for positions including deputy secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
...Although Jones and Obama barely know each other, people who know them well predict they will forge a close relationship. Both are intellectually curious, self-confident, more pragmatic than ideological, and interested in seeking out people with different perspectives.
...Jones would bring something to the national security job that has been sorely missing. He is an honest and effective mediator and broker of ideas, assuring that strong policy differences are framed for the president in a fair way and that only big matters are brought to him.
This is the role so effectively played by another general, Brent Scowcroft, during the first Bush presidency. Scowcroft, who was personally close to George H.W. Bush, has been an adviser to and a model for Jones and helped Jones decide to accept this post, associates say.
...The honest-broker national security role was derailed for most of the current Bush presidency. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney bypassed all channels, intent on outmaneuvering Secretary of State Powell. With an acquiescent and passive president, they succeeded in making a travesty of the national security decision-making process
...If anyone tries an end run, they would be likely to find the national security adviser a formidable obstacle. Jones has privately been appalled and frustrated at the breakdown of a coherent interagency national security system and is determined to restore that process.
His record suggests he will be a realpolitik internationalist and reject the neoconservative unilateral approach.
...Jones, never a fan of the Iraq war, has indicated that he considers Afghanistan an enormous challenge. Although he supports sending more forces there, he also believes that success is impossible without a comparable effort to reform the Afghan government and to use American "soft power"
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/07/america/letter.php
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