National security adviser James Jones resigns
The Los Angeles Times reports that Gen James Jones, USMC (ret), President Obama’s national security adviser, has resigned. Jones’s deputy, Tom Donilon, is to replace Jones.
This development is not a surprise. According to Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars, Jones never established a working relationship with Obama. In addition, Donilon and others from Obama’s Senate and campaign staffs did have the ear of the president and frequently bypassed Jones. Finally, according to Woodward, Jones failed to fulfill the role for which Obama selected him, to be an experienced military counterbalance to advice coming from the Pentagon.
For what it’s worth, according to Woodward, Robert Gates thought that Donilon would be a “disaster” as national security adviser.
The Los Angeles Times article speculates that Jones could eventually replace Gates at the Pentagon. That would be very surprising.