Obama Was Not Briefed on Nuclear-Defense Plans Until "Some Months" In Office

There's a certain thing I do where I know I've got mail that I should open sooner rather than later, but instead I throw it on a counter and pretend to forget about it because I don't want to deal with it. As long as I don't actually open them, I can ignore them. It's a bury-my-head-in-the-sand maneuver and it's dumb, because I know what's in most of those letters.

Apparently, the President does the same thing:

According to a knowledgeable source who would not be identified discussing sensitive national-security matters, President Obama wasn't briefed on the U.S. nuclear-strike plan against Russia and China until some months after he had taken office. "He thought it was insane," says the source. (The reason for the delay is unclear; the White House did not respond to repeated inquiries.)

Warning: the rest of that Newsweek article is partisan trash, including comparisons between Obama and President Reagan and more public knob gobbling than anyone should be comfortable with.

But those three lines jumped out at me because it seems pretty damned important that the President doesn't just bury his head in the sand when he gets uncomfortable. Republicans have been pointing out for a year just how neglectful Obama has been addressing national security concerns. After every major blunder Democrats try and reassure the public that it's not neglect, but rather subtlety.

It's neglect.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 09:41 AM

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