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Obama to Announce National Security Team Overhaul

   Officials say Army General David Petraeus will succeed Leon Panetta,
   who will take over Pentagon job

   VOA News  April 28, 2011
   General David Petraeus (file photo)

Photo: Reuters

   General David Petraeus (file photo)

   U.S. President Barack Obama is set to announce major changes to his
   national security team Thursday, including the nomination of CIA
   director Leon Panetta to replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
   Officials say Obama will name Army General David Petraeus, now leading
   military operations in Afghanistan, to succeed Panetta as spy chief.
   Veteran diplomat Ryan Crocker is expected to be named the next U.S.
   ambassador to Afghanistan, and Lieutenant General John Allen is
   reportedly being tapped to replace Petraeus as Afghanistan commander.
   Allen is currently the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command.
   The new team will be responsible for overseeing this year's planned
   withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq, as well as a reduction of
   troops in Afghanistan beginning in July. President Obama plans to turn
   over security responsibility in Afghanistan to the Afghan government by
   2014.
   The proposed changes, which all require Senate confirmation, drew
   positive reactions in Congress.
   The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat John
   Kerry, said the choices of Panetta and Petraeus will "provide important
   continuity of leadership, policy and philosophy." Kerry said he expects
   "broad approval and swift confirmations."
   Gates, who became Defense Secretary in 2006 under President Obama's
   predecessor, George W. Bush, had said he would leave his post this
   year. Gates headed the CIA in the early 1990s under Bush's father,
   George H.W. Bush.
   If confirmed as his replacement, Panetta would oversee major Pentagon
   budget cuts. Gates has already come up with $400 billion in cuts to the
   defense budget for the next 10 years, and President Obama has called
   for $400 billion more.
   Panetta has extensive budget experience, serving four years as chairman
   of the House Budget Committee and later, heading the White House Budget
   Office under President Bill Clinton.
   In addition to these changes, President Obama will also have to find a
   replacement for top U.S. military officer Mike Mullen, who is expected
   to retire when his term ends in September.

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