Obama's national security team a diverse mix
— -- President-elect Barack Obama on Monday unveils a team of national security advisers that includes his chief Democratic former rival, a sometime-adviser to his Republican opponent and a member of President Bush's administration.
At a Chicago news conference, Obama likely will announce plans to nominate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his Democratic primary opponent, as secretary of State and Eric Holder as the nation's first black attorney general, as well as retain Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, according to two Democratic sources with knowledge of the selection process.
The sources, who requested anonymity because the appointments had not been announced, confirmed that Obama also will name retired Marine general Jim Jones as his national security adviser, and nominate Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for secretary of Homeland Security and Susan Rice to become ambassador to the United Nations.
Obama's latest picks would give him a foreign policy team with a moderate cast. Both Clinton and Vice President-elect Joe Biden have taken a more cautious approach to withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq than Obama, who wanted it done within 16 months of taking office. Jones, who last year chaired an independent commission appointed by Congress to assess the Iraq situation, called political reconciliation by the religious and ethnic factions in Iraq vital — a view shared by Obama. Jones, however, said a deadline for troop withdrawal would be "against our national interest."
Jones, who served as the commandant of the Marine Corps and the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, advised both Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain during the campaign.
Gates would be the first secretary of Defense held over by a new president. He will not have to undergo a second round of Senate confirmation hearings, said Tara Andringa, spokeswoman for Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.
Gates and Jones share Obama's view that U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a national security issue.
