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Jules Witcover
President Obama's nominations of former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel to be his secretary of defense and John Brennan as CIA director, coupled with Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state, underline his determination to pivot from the war mentality of former President George W. Bush and his "Vulcans."
If all three are confirmed by the
Kerry and Hagel initially voted for Bush's use-of-force resolution that authorized the invasion of Iraq. But both later opposed the implementation as failed and wrong-headed. Brennan was a less visible and outspoken intelligence bureaucrat but was embroiled in arguments over the use of questionable interrogation procedures against war detainees.
The trio's nominations, and particularly those of the two
The president's limited commitment of air support but no ground troops in the British-and French-led effort to depose Moammar Gaddafi in Libya, along with the gradual but declared intention to withdraw the bulk of American forces from both Iraq and Afghanistan by 2014, are signposts of the Obama pivot.
The president in 2010 did yield to his generals' pressure and accede to a Bush-like surge of combat troops into Afghanistan. However, he has also adhered so far, though at a slower pace than anticipated, to his 2008 presidential campaign promise to end American participation in the two Middle East wars.
His appointment of Kerry, seasoned in foreign policy as chairman of the
Still, Obama, having avoided a battle with the decision not to offer the nomination of UN Ambassador Susan Rice for the
As the first enlisted
The previous Republican who ran the
If confirmed, he can expect to have a strong ally within the administration not only in Obama, with whom he has traveled abroad, but also with Vice President Joe Biden, with whom Hagel also made war-zone trips when they served together on the
As a man who marches to the beat of his own drum, having retired from the
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World - Continuing a Foreign Policy Pivot | News of the World