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| Ashton Carter Likely Next U.S. Defense Secretary | |
| 2014-12-03 | |
| [AnNahar] The former number-two ranking official at the Pentagon, Ashton Carter, will likely be named as the next U.S. defense secretary, American media reported Tuesday. President Barack Obama teachable moment... was poised to nominate Carter to replace outgoing Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel, "barring any last minute complications," CNN reported. CNN cited several unnamed administration officials and The Washington Post also reported Obama would nominate Carter. Pentagon officials acknowledged to Agence La Belle France-Presse that Carter was on a shortlist of candidates for the post but could not confirm if a final decision had been taken. Hagel, the outgoing Pentagon chief, announced his resignation last week, with officials privately saying he was forced out after losing the confidence of the White House. Carter, 60, has gained a reputation as an expert on hi-tech weapons and military budgets, portraying himself as a reformer intent on making the vast Pentagon bureaucracy more efficient. While Carter is fluent with weapons programs and technological trends, he has less experience overseeing war strategy and has never served in uniform -- unlike his predecessor, Hagel, who was maimed in the Vietnam War. An academic by training who holds a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford,
...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of is... 's presidency overseeing nuclear arms policies and helped with efforts to remove nuclear weapons from Ukraine and other former Soviet territories. A former professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Carter served as the Pentagon's top weapons buyer from 2009 to 2011 and then as deputy defense secretary until 2013. When Carter stepped down last year, officials denied reports that he had clashed with Hagel. Although he has served under two Democratic presidents, Carter is not a heavily partisan figure and the U.S. Senate would likely endorse his nomination, analysts say. Carter would be a "great" choice, said Democrat Carl Levin ...Democrat Senator-for-Life from Michigan. He has been in the Senate since 1979. Prior to that he was president of the Detroit city council and Mayor Coleman Young's right-hand man. He is currently the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services... , chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "He is very highly qualified," he said. He added it was possible politicians could expedite a nomination for the Pentagon job in the next few weeks before a newly-elected Republican majority takes over the Senate in the new year. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #10 and helped with efforts to remove nuclear weapons from Ukraine and other former Soviet territories. Sounds like a Architect for what Obama wants to do for our Nuclear Arsenal. Just one EO away from abolishing our Nuclear Deterent. |
| Posted by: Charles 2014-12-03 23:31 |
| #9 That was my first thought, Barbara. And he actually fits the bill: compliant, expendable, and mostly harmless. {insert Demi Moore joke here} |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-12-03 15:05 |
| #8 Sure it's not Ashton Kucher? |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-12-03 12:50 |
| #7 No, not this one, This one: Defense Nominee Ashton Carter Won Praise for Fighting Cuts to Military |
| Posted by: Tholung Noodleman4539 2014-12-03 12:33 |
| #6 holds a doctorate in theoretical physics So, another Sheldon Cooper? |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2014-12-03 12:30 |
| #5 someone with an independent streak and America's best interest wouldn't take the job. Puppet |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-12-03 10:41 |
| #4 In a way, it doesn't matter who is SecDef. All he has to is to do what ValJar and Susan Rice tell him to do. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-12-03 09:39 |
| #3 Look on the bright side - Obumble & Company could have picked a lot of worse choices. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2014-12-03 06:17 |
| #2 When Carter stepped down last year, officials denied reports that he had clashed with Hagel. Ag, C Cassius Brutus at work and play. "If one wishes to have a friend in Washington, buy a dog." ~ Harry Truman |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-12-03 01:12 |
| #1 How much money did Carter raise for the ONE during the last campaign? |
| Posted by: Mystic 2014-12-03 00:17 |