Topic - James L. Jones

• Inside the Ring

  The nomination of U.S. Ambassador-designate to Russia Michael McFaul is in trouble, based on recent responses to senators' questions about a possible plan to give sensitive data to Russia on the SM-3 anti-missile interceptor.

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  DE BORCHGRAVE: Black swans soar

  For Pakistanis, arguably the world's most anti-U.S. population, the NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at an Afghan-Pakistani border post at Salala in the Mohmand Tribal Agency was deliberate.

• SGT. SHAFT: Wife of vet worries about Agent Orange exposure

  Dear Sgt Shaft: My ex-husband was exposed to Agent Orange. Being married to him for 17 years, is it possible that I could acquire Agent Orange side effects?

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  Gibbs joins parade to White House door

  Saying he simply needed a break, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday added his name to a growing list of West Wing staff departures as President Obama restocks the team that will help him deal with newly resurgent congressional Republicans and prepare for a 2012 re-election bid.

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  BLANKLEY: Obama breaks out the sandbags

  Based on the recent appointments of the two most powerful staff positions in the White House, it appears that the White House is descending deeper into the bunker in anticipation of the expected shift in congressional majorities next year. The selection of Pete Rouse for chief of staff and Tom Donilon for national security adviser are both in-house promotions. Moving deputies up to principal rank is more typically seen in the seventh and eighth years of a White House administration - when an administration often has lost its instinct for innovation and creative responses to changing events. Moreover, in each case, a senior figure is being replaced with a staffer. Rahm Emanuel was a congressman who was in the senior leadership of the Democratic House when he became chief of staff. Gen. James L. Jones had been supreme allied commander in Europe and four-star commandant of the Marine Corps before he became national security adviser last year.

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  GAFFNEY: Homeland insecurity adviser

  With the recent departures of Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, economic policy adviser Lawrence H. Summers and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the next senior Obama administration official expected to quit is the national security adviser to the president, James L. Jones. All other things being equal, his successor seems likely to be the president's homeland security adviser, John Brennan (who also serves as Gen. Jones' deputy).

• Jewish group falls from favor at White House

  The White House appears to be distancing itself from the liberal advocacy group J Street that it once embraced as its envoy to the U.S. Jewish community after disclosures that nearly half the group's funding for 2008 came from a single Hong Kong donor.

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  Iraqi sees 'void' if U.S. troops withdraw in '11

  Iraq's most senior military official warned Wednesday that the planned pullout of U.S. forces at the end of next year might be premature, as the White House said it was keeping to its schedule for removing troops from the war-torn country.

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  White House: U.S. on track to end Iraq combat role

  President Obama is satisfied that United States can safely end its combat role in Iraq on schedule at the end of the month, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday after the president was briefed by his national security team and the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

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  Leaks raise U.S. policy doubts

  The disclosure of classified military documents revealing close ties between Pakistan's intelligence service and militants fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan has prompted calls on Capitol Hill to rethink U.S. policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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  HIER & COOPER: Ten steps to push Middle East peace

  After a rocky start marred by two disastrous visits to the White House from which the press was barred, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to receive a more cordial reception when he arrives for today's meeting with President Obama. What Israelis need from the prime minister is more than an Oval Office smile.

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  War plan relations soured early on

  The inappropriate comments by Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal and his staff about civilian leaders reflected a widespread frustration with White House infighting over the general's one-year-old war plan.

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  KUHNER: Who lost Afghanistan?

  America is heading toward a colossal defeat in Afghanistan. Unless there is a dramatic change in policy and leadership, the United States will suffer the most calamitous military setback in its history - one that will mark the end of the American moment, the loss of superpower status in the eyes of the world.

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