Nominate new Secretary of Defense and CIA Director

On January 7, US President Barack Obama announced his nominees for the positions of Secretary of Defense and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the next term. Accordingly, replacing Secretary Leonona Panetta will be veteran Republican congressman Chuck Hagel, while White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan.will be the CIA's leader.

In a press conference at the White House, President Obama praised Mr. Hagel as "an American patriot" and called on the US Senate to approve the nominations of Mr. Chuck Hagel and Mr. John Brennan.



Mr. Chuck Hagel (left) and Mr. John Brennan (right)

Previously, Mr. Obama praised Mr. John Brennan as "a professional, experienced and most respected person in the field of counter-terrorism and a tireless worker."

Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran, left the Senate in 2008 after facing criticism from many Republican politicians for actions seen as against Israeli interests, such as voting against US sanctions against Iran and making statements aimed at the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Mr. John Brennan, 57 years old and a veteran CIA officer with 25 years of experience, is in charge of Washington's efforts to crush the rise of terrorist organizations in Yemen and some other places in the Middle East-North Africa.

He was also an active participant in planning the raid that killed international terrorist Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

The decision to nominate the two above-mentioned figures, along with Senator John Kerry being nominated for the position of US Secretary of State, was made in the context that President Obama's administration is facing difficult issues such as withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, and cutting the defense budget./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT