National Security

National security is the most crucial responsibility of the federal government, taking precedence over most of its other functions -- including the protection of wildlife and the environment. So when a narrow majority of the Supreme Court ruled this week that military readiness is more important than the safety of whales and other marine life, many people, especially on the right, cheered. But the case of Winter vs. the Natural Resources Defense Council isn't quite that simple.

Antiwar groups and other liberal activists are increasingly concerned at signs that Barack Obama's national security team will be dominated by appointees who favored the Iraq invasion and hold hawkish views on other important foreign policy issues. The activists are uneasy not only about signs that both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert M.

It's called the president's daily brief, or, more informally, the "threat matrix." And it could change the way President-elect Barack Obama views the world and the dangers that exist. Obama began receiving daily intelligence reports -- the ones given to President Bush -- after the election. They provide a far more detailed look at terrorist threats than he received as a senator or presidential candidate.

Senior military leaders took the exceptional step of briefing President Bush this week on a severe and widespread electronic attack on Defense Department computers that may have originated in Russia -- an incursion that posed unusual concern among commanders and raised potential implications for national security. Defense officials would not describe the extent of damage inflicted on military networks. But they said that the attack struck hard at networks within U.S.

Re "An unfair litmus test," editorial, Nov. 24 Your editorial says that early opposition to the Iraq war should not be a litmus test for appointees in the Obama administration. However, as a test for national security competence and understanding, a nominee's stance on the Iraq war is telling. You mention the litany of excuses one might have for having gone along with the Bush administration in its rush to war, but they all miss the point: This war was an avoidable mistake. More than that, as a response to the threat that reared its head on 9/11, invading Iraq was totally irrational.

President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to lead an administration where strong-willed senior officials are ready to argue forcefully for differing points of view. It appears that in two months, he'll get his wish, and then some. Obama's new national security team is led by three veteran officials who have differed with each other -- and with the president-elect -- on the full menu of security issues, including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, nuclear weapons and Arab-Israel conflict.

When President-elect Barack Obama introduced James L. Jones Jr. as his national security advisor Monday, he emphasized the retired Marine general's understanding of "the connection between energy and national security." Obama sees that as a plus, but some environmental groups and global warming activists view Jones' environmental record with suspicion. Jones will not be responsible for environmental policy, but he has said energy is a vital national security issue.

President-elect Barack Obama on Monday introduced his national security team, made up of centrist Washington insiders, and promised an overhaul of foreign policy to give added emphasis to diplomacy and bring a "new dawn of American leadership." Appearing at a Chicago news conference with secretary of State nominee Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and five others whom he plans to put on his team, Obama said his administration would restore U.S.

President-elect Barack Obama will probably confront a biological or nuclear attack at home or abroad if the U.S. and its allies do not act decisively to prevent it, according to a report released this week by a panel created by Congress. The report found that the U.S. had taken important steps to counteract nuclear proliferation and, to a lesser extent, biological terrorism, but had "not kept pace with growing risks."

The Pentagon and U.S. national security officials are transmitting a battery of new information about the Afghanistan war to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team in hopes that the incoming administration will act quickly to prevent U.S. fortunes there from eroding further. The effort underscores a sense of urgency about addressing an increasingly dangerous situation in Afghanistan.