A. I try to avoid signaling what a Cabinet will look like. I can tell you this: I do think that [Defense] Secretary [Robert] Gates has brought a level of realism and professionalism and planning to the job that is worthy of praise. I think that the Pentagon is operating more effectively. I think he has improved greatly the relationships with the Joint Chiefs and the military generally…So overall, I think Gates has done a good job. But whether that means that he would continue in that position, or would even want to, I think that’s something that will be determined later.
Q. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” — you want to repeal it. Why isn’t the policy working?
A. I think that at a time when we are pressed, we should have an attitude of “all hands on deck.” If we can’t field enough Arab linguists, we shouldn’t be preventing an Arab linguist from serving his or her country because of what they do in private.
…Precisely because I have not served in uniform, I am somebody who strongly believes that I have to earn the trust of the men and women in uniform. I don’t presume that from the day I’m sworn in that every single service man or woman suddenly says, “This guy knows what he’s doing.” I think that I have to display those qualities in leadership in listening, standing up for our military on some of the critical issues we’ve talked about, on delivering on my promises, so that relationships and trust are built, and so that people who are serving in armed forces feel like, “You know what? This is a guy who’s looking out for us, and he’s not looking just to score some cheap political points.”
He also wants to spend more to improve veterans’ health care and reduce the wait for a disability claim to be processed. “I don’t know a higher priority than making sure that the men and women who are putting themselves in harm’s way, day in and day out, are getting decent pay and decent benefits — so that when they return home as veterans, they don’t have to wait six months to get benefits that they’ve earned, that they’re not winding up homeless on the streets, that they’re being screened for post-traumatic stress disorder, that if a spouse is widowed, the benefits are sufficiently generous,” he said. “These are just basic requirements of a grateful nation.”
Obama said he did not want to be more specific because he did not want to make promises he might not be able to keep. “I think we can do a much better job than we’re doing right now,” he said. But, he added, “I want to be honest: We are going to be in a tight budget situation. We’re not going to be able to do everything all at once.”
Obama said he would not order any “precipitous” withdrawal of combat forces. Instead, he said, his policy is that “we should be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless in getting in. I have always said that as commander in chief, I would seek the advice and counsel of our generals,” Obama said. But, in the end, “it is the job of commander in chief to set the strategy.”
A strategic factor in the decision to keep forces in Iraq includes, for him, a question about the risk of not having enough combat-ready forces for other operations. “If we have only one battle-ready brigade outside the Iraq rotation to respond to other risks, that’s not good strategic planning by the commander in chief,” he said. “If we have a situation in Afghanistan where we are seeing more and more violence in the eastern portion of Afghanistan, at a time when we’ve actually increased the forces down there and we’ve got some of the best battle-tested operations deployed there, and we’re still seeing increases in violence, what that tells me is that we’ve got real problems.”
Obama said he believes he would be a far better commander in chief than McCain. “I believe that I have a better grasp of where we need to take the country, and how we should use the power of … not just our military, but all of our power in order to achieve American security,” Obama said. “I think I have a better sense than he does of where we need to go in the future. As somebody who has worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on critical issues like nuclear proliferation . . . as somebody who has traveled widely and grew up traveling around the world, I think I have a clear sense of the nature of both the transnational threats and challenges but also the opportunities that are going to determine our safety and security for the foreseeable future. And that’s why I think I can be an effective commander in chief,” Obama said.
During the interview, Obama discussed the issue of accountability for military leaders, including times when, he said, he believes the Bush administration has blamed senior officers for things that were not their fault. He contrasted his own personal standards of accountability that he said would apply if he becomes president. “There are times during the course of this war where I felt that the military was blamed for bad planning on the civilian side, and that, I think, is unfortunate,” he said.
More Highlights:
Iraq pullout. Obama wants to remove forces from Iraq at one to two brigades a month. He has not set a timetable, saying much will depend on the situation on the ground. He has often been quoted as saying, “We should be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in.”
Afghanistan buildup. Two more brigades would be sent to Afghanistan to fight the growing threat from the Taliban.
End strength. Obama supports the drive to grow the Army by 65,000 soldiers and add 27,000 Marines to the Marine Corps. He has not staked out a position on the sizes of the Navy and Air Force. The Navy is drawing down. The Air Force was shrinking, but that was halted recently.
Stop-loss. He would seek to end the policy for reservists and active-duty troops.
Military families. Obama would create a Military Families Advisory Board to cut burdens on spouses and families.
Pay rates. He plans to bring basic pay levels in line with the private sector. The campaign has not released specifics.
Guard and reserves. Obama wants them to deploy one year out of every six years, and cap cumulative deployment time at 24 months.
Veterans. Troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan would have mental health screeners in every state. Veterans also would have up to five years to enroll to receive care from the Veterans Affairs Department, versus the two years now allowed.
Weapons programs. All major programs would be re-evaluated based on current and future needs. Trade-offs would be made between systems designed for the Cold War and other new aircraft, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and cargo and refueling aircraft. Although not going into specifics, Obama called for “unparalleled air power capabilities,” adding that “relying solely on old systems from a past century will not suffice.” Obama calls for modernizing current ships and investing in small, capable combatants. He supports the concept of the Littoral Combat Ship program.
Private contractors. Obama calls for greater accountability and oversight for private contractors, especially those who are working in a war zone, and would require the Defense Department to decide “where contracting makes sense and where it doesn’t.”
I am a female Marine currently in the Individual Ready Reserve. I like to sleep, travel, read, eat, explore, and take photographs. I read lots of news and I like reading about life in other countries. I am easily amused and my dream job is to be snoozing in a warm patch of sunlight, hopefully with a piece of tasty cheese nearby for when I wake up hungry.
“Obama said he would not order any “precipitous” withdrawal of combat forces. Instead, he said, his policy is that “we should be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless in getting in. I have always said that as commander in chief, I would seek the advice and counsel of our generals,” Obama said. But, in the end, “it is the job of commander in chief to set the strategy.”
That is a key point he is willing to a least listen to the generals and make decisions based on what they feel. I think the Bush administration was too busy selling their own agenda without analysing the various scenerios.
To me it just sound that Obama might be a more sensible guy as commander and chief