Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser - NYTimes News

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/donilon-to-replace-jones-as-national-security-adviser/?emc=na


October 8, 2010, 9:59 am
Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser
By DAVID E. SANGER
President Obama will announce on Friday that Gen. James Jones, the national security adviser, is resigning and will be replaced by Thomas E. Donilon, the principal deputy national security adviser, senior administration officials said.

General Jones’s departure had been long rumored, and he had previously indicated to his staff that he intended to leave by the end of the year. But the schedule was accelerated, and in recent weeks White House staff had been increasingly critical of General Jones for statements that he apparently made to Bob Woodward, the author of “Obama’s Wars,” an account of the internal decision making on policy Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr. Donilon began as young political operative for President Jimmy Carter and later was chief of staff for Secretary of State Warren Christopher in the Clinton administration. He has long operated in the area between politics and national security. He coached Mr. Obama on foreign policy for his debates during the 2008 presidential campaign.

As deputy national security adviser, he has urged what he calls a “re-balancing” of American foreign policy to rapidly disengage American forces in Iraq and to focus more on China, Iran and other emerging challenges. In the Afghanistan-Pakistan review, he argued that the United States could not engage in what he termed “endless war,” and has strongly defended Mr. Obama’s decision to declare that troops will begin leaving Afghanistan next summer.