Change candidate Obama agrees to keep Gates, senior Pentagon and Homeland Security officials in their jobs

White House, candidates plan power transfer

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-03 23:42:02

·White House and two main presidential candidates are working to ensure smooth power transfer. ·Obama is said to be considering asking Gates to stay as defense chief if he is elected. ·The move reflects challenges posed by the 1st wartime U.S. political transition in more than 40 years.

WASHINGTON, July 3 (Xinhua) --

The Bush administration and the two main presidential candidates are working together to ensure next January's presidential power transfer goes smoothly, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The campaigns of Republican presidential contender John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama are compiling lists of potential nominees for dozens of national-security and counter-terrorism positions so would-be policy makers can be vetted and confirmed as quickly as possible, the report said.

Given the inevitable gaps, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked senior Pentagon officials to be prepared to stay in their jobs for the first few months of 2009.

The Obama campaign has endorsed the idea. Obama aides say the Illinois senator is considering asking Gates to stay as defense chief if he is elected.

At the Department of Homeland Security, career officials have been assigned to the number-two posts in critical areas so they can step in when political appointees leave.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is forming a transition office and some of his senior aides have talked privately about staying on temporarily if requested.

The move, said the newspaper, reflects the challenges posed by the first wartime U.S. political transition in more than 40 years and fears of a possible terrorist strike or major crisis in Iraq or Afghanistan during the next president's first months in office.

The effort is also designed to avoid the power vacuums that usually accompany a shift in administration.

Obama says he could "refine" Iraq policy

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-04 09:53:54

WASHINGTON, July 3 (Xinhua) --

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday that he could "refine" his Iraq policy while pledging he won't change his basic policy position on the issue.

At a brief press conference in Fargo, N.D., the Illinois senator said his plan to withdraw troops within 16 months after taking office had always been relying on ground situation and that he would "do a thorough assessment" when he visits Iraq, a trip he will make before the Nov. 4 presidential election.

"My position has not changed but keep in mind what that original position was. I have always said that I will listen to commanders on the ground; I've always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability," he said.

"That assessment has not changed and when I go to Iraq and I have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies," Obama added.

The Republican National Committee caught the chance to accuse Obama of opportunism.

"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience," said the committee's spokesman Alex Conant.

"Obama's Iraq problem undermines the central premise of his candidacy and shows him to be a typical politician," he said.

Obama's Republican rival John McCain put out a statement, saying Obama's words "do not matter."

In fact, this is not the first time that Obama has showed flexibility on the Iraq issue.

The remarks echoes what he said at a debate in Dartmouth, N.H., on Sept. 26, last year, that he wouldn't commit to having all troops out of Iraq by 2013.

"I think it is hard to project four years from now, and I think it would be irresponsible," he said then.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

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