Tag Archive for: Bidens

Biden’s pick to lead Pentagon faces questions about whether he’s right for the job

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President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Pentagon is already facing critics, who question his judgment while he served as the top US commander in the Middle East, an issue that could complicate Gen. Lloyd Austin‘s path to confirmation.

Biden has called Austin “the person we need in this moment,” and other retired four-star generals have praised the “superb choice,” but critics are asking if the former battlefield commander has the political chops to fight military budget cuts.

They are debating Austin’s suitability for a role on the world stage and wonder whether his experience equips him to confront an increasingly assertive China, develop new tools in cyber warfare and other realms, and reassure allies skittish about US reliability.

All those questions are expected to make the decorated 40-year Army veteran’s confirmation hearing a challenge. Austin will likely have to contend with these doubts even before then, as he meets with lawmakers next week and the Biden team pushes reluctant members of Congress to grant a waiver for the recently retired general to serve in the civilian leadership post.

‘The theater of war’

Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, Austin said he understands “the important role of the Department of Defense and the role that it plays in maintaining stability and deterring aggression and defending and supporting critical alliances around the world.”

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered a ringing endorsement of the 67-year-old nominee.

Biden “is making a superb choice in selecting General Lloyd Austin to be the next Secretary of Defense,” Powell said in a statement, adding that he had mentored Austin during his…

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Biden’s National Security Picks Herald a Return to Normalcy

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After four years of Trumpian national security policy that was, by turns, assailed as “rudderless,” “schizophrenic,” “incoherent,” and “riven with contradictions,” the conventional wisdom says that the incoming Biden administration will pursue conventional American statecraft akin to the Obama White House.

President-elect Joe Biden’s first picks for senior national security posts — Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence — served in the Obama administration and are now being hailed as the sort of steady hands that America needs after the chaotic Trump administration. But that’s not the good news it seems to be. The Biden plan, outlined on his presidential transition website, suggests a “normal” version of national security that includes the deep flaws of the centrist-liberal approach. There is a call for continued mammoth Pentagon budgets (“the investments necessary to equip our troops for the challenges of the next century”) with an emphasis on emerging battlespaces (“cyberwarfare … new challenges in space”), the endorsement of ossified Cold War-era security partnerships (“keeping NATO’s military capabilities sharp”), and veiled references to confronting China (“strengthen our alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and other Asian democracies”), as well as business as usual in the Middle East (“ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”).

The costs of normalcy have been grave. “It’s worth keeping in mind that the global war on terror has killed more than 7,000 U.S. servicemembers — more than twice the number of people killed by the 9/11 attacks — and more than 800,000 lives worldwide,” said Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA’s director of Security With Human Rights. “It’s also cost the U.S. more than $6.4 trillion. It’s hard to see why a Biden administration would want to continue on this trajectory.”

   

Biden’s presidential team of national security advisers is loaded with leading members of the Beltway foreign policy establishment unaffectionately known as “the Blob.” It’s a well-worn…

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