Former adviser gives Obama an 'A-' on defense policy

Before the faltering economy hijacked the 2008 presidential race, President Obama's campaign was largely defined by his bold defense promises. He differentiated himself from then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries by his opposition to the Iraq War. Later, during the general election, he pledged to engage America's enemies, shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, end enhanced interrogation techniques and establish a timeline to leave Iraq -- all of which earned him scorn on the right.

But following through on his promises to break with Bush administration policy hasn't proved easy either, and Obama has been criticized on his left as well. He pledged to ban torture and signed executive orders on detention and interrogation policies, yet he has also blocked the release of torture photographs. He promised to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and has ordered an Illinois prison to accept detainees, yet he hasn't secured funding and his pledge to close Gitmo within a year will go unfulfilled.

NationalJournal.com spoke with Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration who advised Obama during the campaign, to get his take on what the president is doing right -- and wrong -- on national security.

NJ: How involved were you with the formation of President Obama's defense platform during the campaign? How do you think he's done so far?

Korb: Let me tell you the areas I was involved in, which I think he's done a heck of a job [with]. We talked about withdrawal dates for the combat forces out of Iraq. We said 18 months, and after the [Iraqi] election was postponed and everything we said 20, so he did do that. He talked about two to three brigades for Afghanistan, which he did right away. But then the military came back and asked for more. When we did it during the campaign, Afghanistan had not deteriorated as much as it had. But the idea was that this is a war that is important, this is critical, and so therefore we gotta give it emphasis, whereas Iraq basically was a diversion from dealing with the threat from Al Qaeda.

So you know, he did those. And also, if you remember, [Obama said] if [former Pakistani President Pervez] Musharraf won't go after Al Qaeda, we will. And people were surprised about the stepped-up drone attacks, which obviously has also occurred. Now, we didn't talk about Yemen. Nobody did back then.

Then if you look at defense spending, he said he was going to take a look at all of the programs and cut the F-22 -- also took the missiles and radar out of Poland, which is something else we talked about in the campaign.

NJ: Speaking of defense cuts, will it be tougher the second time around to pursue defense cuts?

Korb: Well I think the real key thing is what happens with the [Quadrennial Defense Review]. Now I've written this.... I wrote an op-ed that said, "Hey, you ought to get your national security strategy out before you do the QDR and the [Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review] and whatever the heck Homeland Security is calling it."

NJ: How important is Defense Secretary Robert Gates in all this?

Korb: Well I think Gates has provided him a lot of political cover, particularly on the missiles and radar and the canceling of the F-22. I think had fill-in-the-blank been there, it would have been more difficult, but when Gates says, "Hey, you know, I was appointed by [George W.] Bush and I think we've got enough F-22s and I'm going to recommend the president veto it," you know, I think that was important. Same way on the missiles and radar because for Republicans that's almost a theological weapon. So I think he's been very important politically.

The real key question is, I must say, after [Obama] talked about 18 months I'm going to start a drawdown in Afghanistan, Gates, I don't know what he said in the meetings, but when he came out publicly he kind of undermined that.

NJ: Do you see Gates as a company man, or is there a fear he could contradict the president publicly?

Korb: I think he's the ultimate team player and it was very smart for Obama to keep him.

NJ: Does the White House think about its campaign promises, or is this obsessing over campaign rhetoric a media invention?

Korb: Oh I think they do. I think they do for two reasons. Number one, obviously if you promise something and people vote for you, your credibility is undermined [if you don't do it]. The other is, Obama was basically promising a new direction. For example, he got hammered for saying he would negotiate directly to Iran, which he has. He has reached out to them.

NJ: What about the promise to give the National Guard a spot on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

Korb: That, like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", would require legislation. Now [chief of the National Guard Bureau] Craig McKinley is a four-star [general]. And you know, I think that's a technical issue. [As president], you can talk to anybody you want. It's sorta like, are you a member or an adviser to the National Security Council? Well, if they invite you, you come.

NJ: The media is obsessed with giving this president grades, and we're no exception. How would you grade his first year in terms of defense policy.

Korb: I would say I'd give him an A-. I think they could have been a little bit more forceful on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and they should have gotten a national security strategy out so that we would know which direction we're going and what weapons to buy and how the [Quadrennial Defense Review] should work.