The Joint Chiefs of Staff, as always, had some of the best seats in the House for the State of the Union address. Seated to President Obama's right during the Joint Session of Congress front-row seats were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey. Behind them: Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff, and Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant.
The location of their seats, on the the majority side of the chamber, allowed the Pentagon leaders plenty of opportunities to mill with Democrats before the president arrived. Working the other side of the room was their boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- who along with the rest of the cabinet was seated near the Republican members of Congress.
The Pentagon's top brass largely refrained from applause during the speech which covered a lot of political terrain, including a call for a new jobs bill, taxing big banks, health care reform, financial industry reform legislation, new education initiatives, and a three-year freeze on discretionary, non-defense federal spending.
The chiefs were studiously still when the president, near the end of his address, pledged to work to repeal the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military.
The president did not use this forum to unveil any new defense policy initiatives. He reiterated plans to withdraw combat troops from Iraq this summer and from Afghanistan by the summer of 2011.
And Obama also highlighted his commitment to reducing the threat of nuclear war.
Even as we prosecute two wars, we are also confronting perhaps the greatest danger to the American people – the threat of nuclear weapons. I have embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons, and seeks a world without them. To reduce our stockpiles and launchers, while ensuring our deterrent, the United States and Russia are completing negotiations on the farthest-reaching arms control treaty in nearly two decades. And at April’s Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring forty-four nations together behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years, so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.
These diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of these weapons. That is why North Korea now faces increased isolation, and stronger sanctions – sanctions that are being vigorously enforced. That is why the international community is more united, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is more isolated. And as Iran’s leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: they, too, will face growing consequences.
