Obama marks break from Bush on intel
Posted: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:01 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum and Ashley Codianni
At today's news conference, President-elect Obama's intention was to officially announce his choices to head the CIA and the Director for National Intelligence -- Leon Panetta, who had come under criticism by Congressional Democrats, and retired Admiral Dennis Blair.
However, the economy and jobs report remained the news of the day.
"This morning, we received a stark reminder about how urgently action is needed," Obama said in the beginning of his press conference. "Five hundred and twenty-four thousand jobs were lost in December across nearly all major American industries. That means that our economy lost jobs in all 12 months of 2008 and that nearly 2.6 million jobs lost last year amount to the single worst year of job loss since World War II."
Although Obama is facing criticism from Democrats on the stimulus plan, the President-elect said he recognized it will not be easy to come to a compromise but has confidence they will reach one.
"There are going to be a whole host of good ideas out there, and we welcome all of them," he said. "And we're going to sift through all of them, and we are going to work in a collaborative fashion with Congress. What we can't do is drag this out when we just saw half a million more jobs lost."
He continued, "You know, the American people are struggling. And behind the statistics that we see flashing on the screens are real lives, real suffering, real fears. And it is my job to make sure that Congress stays focused in the weeks to come and gets this done."
Obama also said they will refine the package during the next few weeks. On criticism that the plan is not big enough, he said some people say it is not big enough and others say it is too big.
"I want this to work,” he said. “This is not an intellectual exercise. And there's no pride of authorship. If members of Congress have good ideas, if they can identify a project for me that will create jobs in an efficient way, that does not hamper our ability to, over the long term, get control of our deficit, that is good for the economy, then I'm going accept it."
On his national security appointments, Obama stressed the need for an evolving intelligence to deal with "a world of unconventional challenges from the spread of stateless terrorist networks and weapons of mass destruction to the grave dangers posed by failed states and rogue regimes."
He continued, "Good intelligence is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Here in Washington, we've also learned some tough lessons. We've learned that to make pragmatic policy choices, we must insist on assessments grounded solely on the facts and not seek information to suit any ideological agenda."
The president-elect also announced CIA veteran John Brennan will be his homeland security advisor and deputy national security advisor for counterterrorism serving the rank of assistant to the president. This appointment may allay some of critics’ concerns that Panetta has a light resume with regard to intelligence for director of the CIA.
Obama said Panetta, who was White House Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, "knows how to focus resources where they are needed, and he has had a proven track record of building consensus and working on a bipartisan basis with Congress."
Panetta said, "I commit to consulting closely with my former colleagues in the Congress to form the kind of partnership we need if we're to win the War on Terror."
Blair, a former admiral and commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, promised Obama he would not just tell the President-elect what he wants to hear in terms of national security.
"You've made it very clear, sir, that you are best served by hearing different perspectives and by respectful debate," he said to Obama. "And the intelligence services will support you with facts, interpretations, assessments in a straightforward manner, and we will tell you how well we know what we know and what we don't know."
Obama declined to directly answer a question if his choices represent a softening of the U.S. stance on Iran, stating he would discuss that after Jan. 20th -- though what he said on Iran and on torture, in particular, marked a clear pivot from the Bush administration, and perhaps, the clearest sign since Obama has become president-elect of the country’s new direction on foreign affairs and security.
“I was clear throughout this campaign and have been clear throughout this transition that under my administration, the states does not torture,” Obama said. “We will abide by the Geneva Conventions that we will uphold our highest values and ideals. And that is a clear charge that I've given to Admiral Blair and to Leon Panetta. And I think it is important for us to do that not only because that's who we are, but also, ultimately, it will make us safer and will help in changing hearts and minds in our struggle against extremists.
“With respect to Iran, I'll have more to say about Iran after January 20th. I have said in the past during the course of the campaign that Iran is a genuine threat to U.S. national security. But I have also said that we should be willing to initiate diplomacy as a mechanism to achieve our national security goals. And my national security team, I think, is reflective of that practical, pragmatic approach to foreign policy. And when we have a policy towards Iran that has been shaped by my national security team, we will release it.”
