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White House Anti-Terror Official Quits
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| Downing resigned from his post after nine months on the job. |
KANANASKIS,
Canada
, June 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Retired U.S. Army
general Wayne Downing, tapped to coordinate White House efforts to
combat terrorism after the September 11 attacks, after nine months on
the job, has resigned, the White House announced Thursday.
The
White House did not say why Downing, who came out of retirement to
join U.S. President George W. Bush's National Security Council (NSC)
in October 2001, was leaving.
White
House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday of Downing, "He
came to the White House to set up the office. He's accomplished what
he came here to do. ... The White House is not the Hotel California;
it's not a place where people can come and never leave."
Downing,
the deputy White House National Security Adviser, coordinated the
military, diplomatic, law-enforcement, intelligence, financial and
strategic information activities designed to deter, disrupt, and
destroy terrorists and those who harbor, protect, or support them,
according to his official job description.
He
also worked with the Office of Homeland Security to ensure that
U.S.
national counter terrorism efforts, domestic and international, were
seamless, the White House said in a statement.
The
Washington Post reports that Downing was a leading advocate for
launching aggressive and unconventional attacks on terrorist networks,
and an outspoken hawk in administration debates about how to deal with
Saddam Hussein.
Initiator
of the "the Downing plan" for confronting Iraq, which calls
for using a mix of Special Operations troops, air power and Iraqi
rebels to topple Hussein, Downing’s strategy has been viewed
skeptically by much of the military leadership, including the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, reports the paper.
For
their part, the military would rather implement a Gulf War-like force
of at least 200,000 troops that would take several months to assemble.
Downing
is to be replaced by retired U.S. Air Force General John Gordon, who
will join the NSC from the Energy Department, where he worked on
nuclear security.
Gordon
has also served as deputy CIA director from October 1997 to June 2000
and was on the NSC under Bush's father, former president George Bush.
Downing’s
departure would bring to three the number of officials resigning from
Bush’s administration. Next month, presidential counselor Karen
Hughes is to leave for her native Texas. John Di Iulio quit after
seven months as director of Bush's office that focuses on getting
government aid to church-based charities, reports news agencies.
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