On Day One

Obama told USA Today that he plans, "on day one," to appoint a special team of diplomats to tackle the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Obama acknowledged the issue is interwoven into the politics of the entire Middle East, signaling a departure from Bush's strategy, which tended to isolate the issue.

New York City Game

Attorney General-designate Eric Holder laid out a somewhat expansive, if not ambiguous, definition of torture in his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, saying that waterboarding and some other methods approved under the Bush administration do constitute torture.

The decisions regarding torture will have consequences that defy easy solutions. With many of the tactics used to gain information in Guantanamo deemed as torturous, such evidence must be thrown out in court, only complicating the matter of what to do with and how to try those detainees still in holding.

Still, many upon release have gone on to fight against America throughout the world, whether they were a threat to America before or as a result of their time in Guantanamo. "I've struggled with that," said Holder. "We're going to have to come up with an American solution."

Holder also voiced a strong desire to bring the Justice Department back to a standing where it represents "not one president, not one political party, but the people."

In the morning session of Holder's first hearing, democratic senator from Wisconsin Herb Kohl, in making sure that Holder understood the Attorney General must act independently of the president, asked:

"(Obama) is reported to have considerable skills as a basketball player, and you have indicated to me. . .that you also are a person of considerable skill. In the event, Mr. Holder, that he invites you to the gym for a little one-on-one, will you promise us and the American people that you will do everything in your power to defeat him as badly as you can?"

To which the Honorable Mr. Holder replied:

"Senator Kohl -- he's ten years younger than me; he plays a lot more frequently than I do. Having said that, I got a New York City game. I come from the city that produced Connie Hawkins, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Nate "Tiny" Archibald; I learned how to play ball at PS127 in Queens. If you give me a little time and a little space to get back in shape, I think I could hang with him. I don't think I'll ever be in a position to beat him, nor do I think that would be a wise thing to do.

Today, In Obama News

Obama is working on clarifying plans for closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which he now says could take up to a year to finish.  

At the same time, his team is reassessing their Afghanistan strategy, saying the additional 30,000 troops they plan to send in will be more of an attempt to "buy time" to create a more concrete strategy than a complete turn-around of the situation.  

Some officials have written off the idea of a "stable, democratic Afghanistan" as entirely unrealistic, and are ready to make concessions and compromises in their final strategy.  

A Triumvirate Emerges

Clinton faces smooth sailing in her hearing to head the State Department, and John Kerry looks forward to filling Biden's former role as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reports the Washington Post, paving the way for a new triumvirate of American foreign policy leaders; Obama-Clinton-Kerry.  

Said Andrew Bacevich of Clinton in a FOX News report, "(she) certainly will be a very important voice when it comes to advising, but basic U.S. policy does not get made in the State Department . . . Her effectiveness will require to a considerable degree that she demonstrates that she's a loyal subordinate."  

Bacevich also hopes to see substantive statements on issues like Pakistan and the conflict in Gaza from Clinton during the hearing rather than the tired cliches we've already heard.  Norman's International could not have said it better.  

Obama-Calderon

As reported last week by Norman's International, President-elect Obama will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon today in his first meeting with a foreign leader since elected in November.  

Predictably enough, violent crime in Mexico, immigration, trade and the U.S.-Mexican border will be at the top of the agenda, reports the BBC.

Secrets

For those of you who missed this very interesting NY Times article yesterday, it appears that President Bush declined secret Israeli requests for bunker-busting bombs and permission to fly over Iraq for an attack on Iranian nuclear sites last year.  Bush told Israeli officials he had initiated covert operations on the ground aimed at dismantling Iranian nuclear ambitions from within and that an overt attack would not be necessary.  The report questions whether Israel had plans to carry out the attack or was seeking to engage Bush in more aggressive planning before he left office.  

Bush was continually briefed on the options for an overt American air strike on the Iranian nuclear targets but never told the Pentagon to move beyond contingency planning.  Some in the administration, led Defense Secretary Robert Gates, warned such an attack would be ineffective, likely result in the expulsion of international inspectors and possibly spark a broader Middle East war.  

The Israeli requests came after a National Intelligence Estimate (N.I.E.) from last year that painted a very calm picture of Iran's enrichment program and progress towards nuclear weapons manufacturing, but the report was viewed skeptically by almost everyone in the Bush administration and Israel.  

The covert operations, questions of their efficacy, questions of how they may or may not interfere with efforts to engage Iran in talks, as well as Israel's willingness to settle for such a plan will all be handed off to Barack Obama on the 20th, adding to an already staggering list of problems he will be confronting.  

The article is a fascinating read, one of those rare glimpses into the secret world of international negotiations and covert operations most often not revealed until decades after a conflict has cooled.  Certainly, check that out.  

Panetta On My Mind

So Obama's Panetta-Blair team to head intelligence surprised many and alarmed quite a few. I am a little worried about the lack of intelligence experience myself, but some say Panetta's position as a former cabinet member with Bill Clinton will bring the CIA further into the fold of national security planning than we've seen with this past administration -- a good move if you ask me, but still a little unnerving. Proceed with trepidation.

Panetta to Head C.I.A.

The Obama transition team has selected Leon E. Panetta, former California Congressman, White House Budget Advisor and Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, as the new head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Panetta has no experience with intelligence directly, but has a wealth of managerial and government experience. Perhaps the Obama team is looking for a reformer, whether that means structural change or just reputational. The agency has seen harsh international criticism in recent years for its conduct during the war on terror, to which Panetta is free from association.

The NY Times described Panetta as a man with a "reputation in Washington as a competent manager with strong background in budget issues." The choice, although unusual, is not unprecendented. Both John McCone and George H.W. Bush, two successful CIA heads, had no intelligence experience before taking the helm, the Times article points out.

Obama initially sought someone with extensive experience in the field of intelligence gathering but had difficulty looking for someone in the community not tied in some way, at least in popular opinion, to the Bush Administration.

The task now seems to be to build a strong team of high-level intelligence officials to aid the new man in charge.