Obama Could Replace Aides Bruised by a Cascade of Crises At a time when the Obama administration is lurching from crisis to crisis — a looming Cold War in Europe, a brutal Islamic caliphate in the Middle East and a deadly epidemic in West Africa — it is not surprising that long-term strategy would take a back seat. But it raises inevitable questions about the ability of the president and his hard-pressed national security team to manage and somehow get ahead of the daily onslaught of events. Early stumbles in the government’s handling of the Ebola crisis as well as its belated response to the Islamic State militant group have fueled speculation that Mr. Obama may shake up his team, which is stocked with battle-tested but exhausted White House loyalists and cabinet members, like Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who are viewed as less cohesive than the “team of rivals” in Mr. Obama’s first cabinet. Joked one White House official; John Kerry is like the astronaut played by Sandra Bullock in the movie “Gravity,” somersaulting through space, untethered from the White House. nytimes/2014/10/30/world/middleeast/mounting-crises-raise-questions-on-capacity-of-obamas-team.html?_r=0
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 18:45:36 +0000