text: Anne-Marie Slaughter B6Thursday November 15 2012 1:58 PMCheryl Mills; Jacob J Sullivan (SullivanJJ@state.gov); Abedin Humaan op-ed you should read: praises State for what Stevens did righthad lunch Admiral Mullen who is teaching here this year; in his view Sarah gets it exactly right.latimes.comOp-EdThe world after PetraeusObama should seize this chance to adjust his foreign policy.By Sarah ChayesNovember 15 2012The scandal enveloping members of America's adulated top brass is the deepest crisis to hit the military indecades. It is a crisis President Obama did not need — shaming the country and increasing his burden during amajor transition on his national security team. And yet crisis can be a great corrective. Obama should use thisone to reverse one of the most dysfunctional elements of U.S. foreign policy over the last decade: an infatuationwith military solutions to problems that are fundamentally political.The resignation of former Central Intelligence Agency Director David H. Petraeus after an extramarital affaircame to light together with expected high-level personnel changes at the State Department and other agenciescreates a singular opportunity to embark on the complex process of rebalancing U.S. foreign policy in favor ofnon-military approaches.When he first came to office Obama seemed suspicious of Petraeus who made his reputation under PresidentGeorge W. Bush as the general who transformed the military's approach to the Iraq war. The suspicion wasreflected in the fraught National Security Council debate over Afghanistan strategy in 2009. Yet since thenObama like so many others seems to have been seduced by Petraeus. Not by the man but by what the mancould offer him.Petraeuss unique political genius over the last decade has been to provide each of two contrasting presidents amilitary solution to his key national security problems that was tailored to his character. For Bush obsessedwith Iraq and with leaving a mark on the Middle East Petraeus helped design a grandiose troop-heavyapproach.With the change of administrations Petraeus soon saw that Obama and his team were different — concernedabout the costs of the inherited wars and about the risks of a runaway military. So while Petraeus continued topay lip-service to counterinsurgency doctrine he veered away from it in practice. His focus as commander ofU.S. Department of StateCase No. F-2015-04841Doc No. C05739802 STATE DEPT. - PRODUCED TO HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMM.Date: 05/13/2015 SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON SENSITIVE INFORMATION & REDACTIONS. NO FOIA WAIVER. STATE-SCB0045779U.S. Department of StateCase No. F-2015-04841Doc No. C05739802Date: 05/13/2015STATE DEPT. - PRODUCED TO HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMM.SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON SENSITIVE INFORMATION & REDACTIONS. NO FOIA WAIVER.the troops in Afghanistan — and even more so at the CIA — was on a type of warfare better suited to thispresident: targeted technologically advanced secretive killing over which the president could exert control.But such an approach though cheaper in resources and American lives is still flawed. It is still a militaryanswer to problems that are deeply political in nature and rooted in a complex mix of history regional andcultural particularism and the effects of a protracted abuse of power by elites. By shifting to drones and specialops as the instruments of choice to combat militant extremism the U.S. government remains consumed by thesame old questions: How many men and women in uniform equipped with what kind of hardware need toemploy which tactics to defeat the enemy?What atrophied during the years that two U.S. administrations dwelt obsessively on these questions were all theother tools of U.S. foreign policy including information-gathering and analysis diplomacy and economic andlegal leverage.Perhaps the gravest consequence has been the knowledge deficit. Both wars were hampered by a devastatinglack of situational understanding. In Afghanistan where I lived and worked for more than eight years I wasstunned by how long it took U.S. officials to realize that tribes were key to Afghan social structure. U.S.officials resisted meeting with ordinary Afghans dealing instead with members of a self-serving and unpopulargovernment. So for more than a decade the U.S. government was operating almost blind.The first way Obama can constructively harness Petraeus downfall is to reorient the CIA toward its corefunction: intelligence-gathering. Of late a body-count culture has prevailed at the CIA exemplified by thesecretive drone campaign. If 60 intelligence professionals are assigned to planning and monitoring each dronein the air as has been reported that's 60 who are not on the ground in country interacting with locals gainingan intuitive feel for the dynamics. Obama should resist the temptation to put another target-focused operator atthe helm of the CIA.Another main civilian component of U.S. power is its diplomacy. Obama should also use this moment oftransition to think through what kind of State Department he really needs. The instruments of U.S. foreignpolicy are multiple varied and subtle in their application. To avail itself of them the government needs smartadaptable dynamic risk-takers who think strategically and operate with autonomy. Such people must beattracted to government service and provided responsibilities commensurate with their talents.But the other national security topic of the moment threatens to push Obama in the wrong direction. The deathof Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in Benghazi Libya has been politicized in deeply counterproductiveways. Members of Congress should bear that in mind as they continue examining the details of the attack.Stevens was exactly the type of diplomat the U.S. government needs: someone with long experience in theregion to which he was posted an ambassador who engaged with people gained insight into the environmentand helped influence it. That kind of diplomacy is essential but it carries risks. If it becomes politicallyuntenable in Washington for an ambassador to die in the line of duty then talented diplomats will be hobbled.And faced with a choked career path the best will look elsewhere for rewarding work. Obama should appoint asecretary of State determined to counteract the tendency to retrench.Perhaps the most important foreign policy challenge Obama faces in his second term is how to expandrestructure and reinforce the range of civilian instruments of U.S. power. That is a generational task but one thecurrent crisis has provided an unparalleled opportunity to tackle.Sarah Chayes former special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. of Staff is a resident associate at theCarnegie Endowment and a contributing writer to Opinion.UNCLASSIFarEtiVright 2012 Los Angeles TimesU.S. Department of StateCase No. F-2015-04841Doc No. C05739802 STATE DEPT. - PRODUCED TO HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMM.Date: 05/13/2015 SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON SENSITIVE INFORMATION & REDACTIONS. NO FOIA WAIVER. STATE-SCB0045780U.S. Department of StateCase No. F-2015-04841Doc No. C05739802Date: 05/13/2015STATE DEPT. - PRODUCED TO HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMM.SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON SENSITIVE INFORMATION & REDACTIONS. NO FOIA WAIVER.Sarah ChavesSenior AssociateCarnegie Endowment for International Peace1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington DC 20036(1.202) 939.2265U.S. Department of StateCase No. F-2015-04841Doc No. C05739802Date: 05/13/2015STATE DEPT. - PRODUCED TO HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMM.SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON SENSITIVE INFORMATION & REDACTIONS. NO FOIA WAIVER. STATE-5CB0045781