More talk about Jim Jones and the Obama administration.
I am here in London where I’m participating in an interesting forum sponsored by the Princeton Project on National Security and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Transatlantic Program, I’ve received not just one email — but three — from prominent insider journalists and policy hands that Jim Jones’ tenure as National Security Adviser is highly fragile.
One of these emails reports starkly:
Knives getting longerThat’s all my contact said. But other emails have intimated to me a serious tone-deafness by Jones about his role and responsibilities, his relationship with the President, and his relationship with younger, dedicated, hardworking and late-working staff. Jones recently said that National Security Council staff members that stayed longer than 7:30 pm must be disorganized in their work.
I am picking up the vibe that some powerful people want to have Defense Secretary Robert Gates move over to the White House to replace retired Marine Gen. James Jones as national security advisor.
None of this is to say there aren’t people out to get Gates like this was “Appetite For Destruction.” Nor is it to say that Steve and Tom aren’t hearing what they’re hearing. But it doesn’t seem like we’re any closer to determining who the culprits are. I’m going to offer my own speculation: Jones isn’t the real problem. It’s that Obama hasn’t yet figured out how he wants his NSC to operate, and how he wants it to be run. Pure speculation, sure, but usually national security advisers function in response to their presidents.
