Sources tell The Cable that former Senate staffer and Obama campaign Middle East advisor Daniel Shapiro will be tapped as NSC senior director for the Near East and South Asia, spanning from Morocco to Bangladesh. Two more senior directors for the huge region (Persian Gulf and South Asia) may be appointed in the future.
Among Shapiro's responsibilities, sources say, will be supporting the mission of Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, who is expected to travel to the region this week. The elimination for now of the South Asia senior directorship at the NSC reflects current budget issues, as well as the fact that NSC responsibilities for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are continuing to be run by Bush's NSC "war czar" Gen. Douglas Lute, who is staying on.
In addition, the new NESA regional grouping reflects other changes by National Security advisor Gen. Jim Jones to organize the NSC along Defense Department/CINC lines. One oddity of the arrangement, according to sources, is that it puts India under the NSC senior directorship for Asia (run by Jeff Bader), while Pakistan and Afghanistan fall under NESA.
Read More
(1)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE