La situación así lo plantea, solo hay que ver los discursos y planteamientos de Obama al igual que recordar la situación en Afganistán e Irak. E Israel sola no puede y si lo logra, mis aplausos, pero a saber...
U.S. intelligence agencies should seek ways to work with Muslim leaders and countries like Iran on issues of mutual interest, President Barack Obama's choice for director of national intelligence told senators on Thursday.
In the Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination, Retired Admiral Dennis Blair also urged a break with Bush administration policies on the treatment of terrorism suspects.
"Identifying opportunities as well as threats is an extremely important balance for intelligence agencies to strike," Blair told the Senate Intelligence Committee.
He added: "While the United States must hunt down those terrorists who are seeking to do us harm, the intelligence community also needs to support policy makers who are looking for opportunities to engage and work with influential Muslim leaders who believe and are working for a progressive and peaceful future for their religion and their countries."
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the Senate Finance Committee cleared the nomination of Timothy Geithner as U.S. Treasury secretary despite unhappiness over mistakes he made in paying his taxes.
The committee approved the nomination on an 18-to-5 vote, sending it to the full Senate for a vote either Friday or next week. Obama is hoping for quick approval so that the point man for the administration's economic rescue effort can begin work.
The committee vote came a day after Geithner appeared before the panel to apologize for what he called "careless mistakes" in failing to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade, when he worked at the International Monetary Fund.
Blair, addressing the issue of Iran, said: "While policy makers need to understand anti-American leaders, policies and actions in Iran, the intelligence community can also help policy makers identify and understand other leaders and political forces, so that it is possible to work toward a future in both our interests."
Former President George W. Bush's Republican administration had sought to isolate Iran over its nuclear programs and suspected support for terrorism, but did have some limited contacts.
Bush also drew enmity from many Muslims over the war in Iraq, U.S. torture of terrorism suspects and its bias toward Israel.
Obama, a Democrat, has said that the United States should talk to Iran, and he pledged to improve U.S. ties with the Muslim world in his inauguration speech Tuesday.
Jay Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia and the Senate committee's former chairman, said, "We have an opportunity to make a very sharp turn toward new intelligence policies."
In an unusual comment from a man who will head the most secret agencies of government, Blair said in his prepared statement, "There is a need for transparency and accountability in a mission where most work necessarily remains hidden from public view."
He said that if confirmed, he would "communicate frequently and candidly with the oversight committees, and as much as possible with the American people."
Blair is expected to easily be confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, but some Republicans expressed strong concerns about Obama's plans to close the Guantánamo prison for terrorism suspects and to ban the CIA's use of harsh questioning techniques.
Senator Saxby Chambliss, Republican of Georgia, said the closing meant "mean nasty killers" would be brought to the United States and some could be freed on legal technicalities.
Blair said the administration was studying ways to handle prisoners who can neither be released nor returned to their home countries or a third country, but he said closing Guantánamo was essential to restoring a tarnished U.S. image.
Any new policy must be "true to our ideals and to our safety," he said, but added, "I'd be kidding if I told you there was a magic solution."
He supported Obama's ban on harsh interrogation techniques by the CIA, which critics have denounced as torture. "Torture is not moral, legal or effective," he said.
Addressing issues that have drawn criticism of his nomination, Blair acknowledged that he had erred in serving on the boards of defense contractors when he headed a nonprofit group that advised the Pentagon on weapons issues.
A Pentagon inspector general found that the service had been a conflict of interest but did not influence his work.
Blair also denied accusations from human rights groups that when he was U.S. military commander for the Pacific, he gave tacit support to the Indonesian military at a time the United States was trying to prevent abuses in East Timor.
"There was no wink wink, nod nods from me," Blair said, adding, "I carried out government policy."
As for Geithner, full Senate approval is needed for Obama's key economic cabinet member to start work on tackling a financial crisis that is threatening to worsen a yearlong recession as job losses mount.
Geithner said Wednesday that the Obama administration in coming weeks would present a multipronged approach to stabilize the housing market, strengthen banks and support consumer credit to help the economy begin to recover.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/22/ ... 413985.php
Mi opinión es que es una decisión sensata, por ahora. Hay que calmar las aguas agitadas un poco sobre la situación en Medio Oriente y lo desastroso que es para EE.UU.
Saludos
