Secretary of Defense Ash Carter

[Green Arrow]

What does everyone think of SecDef Ash Carter?

Personally, I can't find much reason not to like the guy. I listened to his and Chief Dempsey's hearing in the House of Representatives on C-Span Radio yesterday while I was at work. He did pretty well, I thought.

[Hal Jordan]

What does everyone think of SecDef Ash Carter?

Personally, I can't find much reason not to like the guy. I listened to his and Chief Dempsey's hearing in the House of Representatives on C-Span Radio yesterday while I was at work. He did pretty well, I thought.

He definitely has an impressive background, and is likely the most qualified candidate for the job. I disagree with him on some points. For example, I don't think we should be involved in the Ukraine issue. I do think he was the best choice for the office, though. However, one concern that needs to be addressed is the micromanagement that the previous holders of this position have talked about. Now, is there truly micromanagement, or will he be able to carry out the job as he sees fit?

[iustitia]

The fact that he has bipartisan support seems curious.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-names-ashton-carter-as-next-defense-secretary/


Obama said Carter knows the Pentagon “inside and out,” which means “on day one, he’ll be ready to hit the ground running.”

Note sure if that's a good thing or not.


Carter, by contrast, has spent nearly four decades in and out of Washington, and in a town with many powerful people working behind untold numbers of closed doors, he managed to make it onto a coveted list of the “most powerful, least famous” people in Washington, DC.

Probably not, then.


Hagel’s nomination in 2013 chafed at some in pro-Israel circles, sparking concern that his Senate confirmation would be held up due to comments he made in the past about the influence of the “pro-Israel lobby.”

Carter, however, is relatively quiet on Israel — at least publicly. But what he has said has been supportive.

His first official trip to Israel was in 2013 — shortly after a visit by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Carter met with Ya’alon, then-national security adviser Yaakov Amidror and Defense Ministry Director Udi Shani, who hosted an official dinner for him.

Observing members of the Oketz IDF Canine Unit, Carter told the soldiers that “protecting America means protecting Israel, and that’s why we’re here in the first place.”

Oh goodie.


Carter’s relative quiet on Israel is balanced by a long series of statements on Iran.

Whereas, previously, the State Department has almost exclusively managed the ongoing P5+1 talks with Iran, the appointment of Carter to the top Pentagon position would introduce a new cabinet member with a vocal record on the subject.

Although his policy papers tend to be nuanced and complex, Carter’s position can be characterized as advocating strong action to further non-proliferation aims. In comparison with the administration, Carter seems to place more weight on the significance of credible military force in conducting denuclearization negotiations with Iran.

Although the Obama administration has repeatedly emphasized that “all options are still on the table,” Carter would likely be seen as the cabinet member placing the greatest emphasis on the military component of the ongoing negotiations.

In 2004, Carter wrote an article for Foreign Affairs proposing that US strategy be applied to an effort to stop production of fissile material. To that end, he called for “establishing a clear US strategy — diplomatic at first, but coercive if necessary — for the complete and verifiable elimination of Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear programs.”

He reiterated his case for coercion in a 2006 report for the Carnegie Endowment, in which he wrote that “diplomacy and coercion should be mutually reinforcing,” later suggesting that the US could leverage certain “sticks” to “persuade the Iranian regime to accept a diplomatic outcome.”

That report suggested that a single airstrike could have “an important delaying effect” on Iran’s nuclear program, but that repeated attacks were necessary to significantly damage Tehran’s program.

The year Obama was elected, Carter teamed up with Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs head Michael Makovsky, former ambassador Dennis Ross, and others to approve a report on Iranian nuclear development.

The report asserted that Iran was, in fact, attempting to build a nuclear weapon and that it constituted a threat to “US and global security, regional stability, and the international nonproliferation regime.” Although those conclusions are commonplace in Washington today, at the time, the report flew in the face of a CIA report published less than a year earlier, which asserted that Iran had frozen its nuclear weapons program.

The Carter-Makovsky-Ross report also suggested that traditional deterrent policies were toothless in the face of Iran’s “extremist ideology” and that Iranian defiance of international conventions and resolutions” would “be among the greatest foreign policy and national security challenges” for a new president. It took a hardline approach to regional power, advising the incoming president to massively reinforce a US military presence in the Middle East, including placing additional missile defense batteries and “pre-positioning additional US and allied forces” in the region.


Yeah this guy's not an asshole.

[Bob]

Watch this mans pathetic performance to the Congress.

I urge you watch him act like Obama and not act as if he is the Sec. of Defense.

He has to fight for the department, not be Obama's clone.

Watch how he handles sequestration.

Pathetic.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?324848-1/ashton-carter-martin-dempsey-authorization-use-military-force

[PolWatch]

Duplicate Threads Merged

[Green Arrow]

Watch this mans pathetic performance to the Congress.

I urge you watch him act like Obama and not act as if he is the Sec. of Defense.

He has to fight for the department, not be Obama's clone.

Watch how he handles sequestration.

Pathetic.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?324848-1/ashton-carter-martin-dempsey-authorization-use-military-force

That was the hearing I listened to at work yesterday. I thought his answers were very good.

[Bob]

That was the hearing I listened to at work yesterday. I thought his answers were very good.

You should have seen it in person. I gave the link so you could. So, his comments on sequestration pleased you?

[Green Arrow]

You should have seen it in person. I gave the link so you could. So, his comments on sequestration pleased you?

That sequestration hurts our readiness? Fundamentally, I think he was correct.

[Bob]

That sequestration hurts our readiness? Fundamentally, I think he was correct.

No, that is great. I agree on that. He refused to accept the removal of it unless he got all sequestration removed. HE was asked over and over, why are you holding us hostage when you need to ask this for your department.

The clone stood by and said it was was the Carter way or the highway. HE was told he might then keep sequestration since he put conditions on it.