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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (57672)	11/13/2009 5:33:59 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 59480

In a four-paragraph letter of resignation, written on White House stationery, Mr. Craig said that he was proud of his accomplishments during the first 10 months of the administration, including “developing a legal framework that will deal with threats to our national security in such a way as to protect our nation from harm while remaining true to our most fundamental values.” “It has been an honor to work for you,” Mr. Craig wrote. “I will always be grateful to you for giving me the chance.” In the office of White House counsel, Mr. Craig was handed one of the most difficult portfolios in the West Wing. He drafted executive orders banning torture and ordering the Guantánamo prison closed within a year. Over the objections of the Central Intelligence Agency, he recommended the release of Justice Department memorandums describing aggressive interrogations. He also was at the center of the White House decision to reverse itself and withhold photographs of abuse of detainees. Mr. Craig took considerable criticism for those decisions and for not doing more to build consensus within the administration or prepare the political ground in Congress. The prospect of closing Guantanamo in the first year of Mr. Obama’s presidency is now almost certain not to happen. At several moments, administration officials said, Mr. Craig’s authority has been trimmed back. Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, assigned Pete Rouse, a senior adviser with deep ties to Capitol Hill, to oversee Guantanamo issues. And after Mr. Craig started the search that produced the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Mr. Emanuel assigned the confirmation fight to Ronald A. Klain and Cynthia Hogan, aides to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with long experience handling judicial appointments. Mr. Craig was assigned to other matters. Friends of Mr. Craig have said that he was unfairly made a scapegoat for decisions supported across the administration. One day this summer, when the first reports of his impending departure were published in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Craig smiled as he left the White House to get a quick lunch from a street vendor. He made easy banter with a reporter, but declined to talk about his future. The announcement of his departure on Friday took place while Mr. Obama is far away from the White House, on a weeklong trip to Asia. “I’m indebted to Greg not only for leading the counsel’s office but for his many decades of service to this country as well,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “He has been a huge asset in the White House, and he will be missed. I will continue to call on him for advice in the years ahead.”