Obama to meet with NSC on first day

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Obama to meet with NSC on first day
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 19, 2009 22:06:43 EST

Barack Obama’s busy first full day in the White House will include his first meeting as president with his senior defense team. And ending the war in Iraq is atop the list.

The new president will meet Wednesday with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, along with the other National Security Council principals, a senior defense official confirmed Monday. At that meeting, Obama is expected to make good on a campaign promise to end the seven-year-old war in Iraq. Other principals typically include the vice president, secretary of state, the director of national intelligence and the national security advisor, although attendance is up to the president.

During the presidential campaign, Obama said he would bring in the Joint Chiefs on his first day in office and give them the mission to end the war “responsibly and deliberately, but decisively.”

Incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed during a Jan. 18 appearance on “Fox News Sunday” that Obama would do so. But there are no plans for the other members of the Joint Chiefs — the secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — to attend, the senior defense official said.

Obama has met with both Gates and Mullen previously — Gates prior to his being asked to remain as defense secretary, and Mullen just after the election, when he traveled to Obama’s Chicago transition office for a get-to-know-you meeting. Obama has held several meetings with his national security team during the transition period to his taking office.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/military_obama_military_011809/%2e

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