New Obama security adviser clashed with military

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama named close aide Tom Donilon as his top security adviser on Friday, elevating a skeptic of the U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan to oversee a major review of the war.

Donilon, 55, has a strong rapport with Obama and will also likely play an influential role as the United States seeks ways to work with an increasingly assertive China and thwart a defiant Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He was among Obama's advisers reported to have counseled the president last year to resist Pentagon requests for a larger troop increase to combat Taliban militants. Obama eventually agreed to send an extra 30,000 soldiers.

"Those of us who support the war effort maybe should be a wee bit concerned," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The president told congressional leaders in a letter this week, however, that he had no plans for any major changes in his Afghanistan war strategy, at least for now. A comprehensive review of that strategy is set for December.

At a White House ceremony, Obama praised outgoing national security adviser Jim Jones, a former Marine general, calling him a dedicated public servant who had held one of the most difficult jobs in the administration.

Naming Donilon as his replacement, Obama said: "We have some huge challenges ahead. We remain a country at war."

David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration and author of a book on the National Security Council, said Donilon's appointment suggested Obama was not looking for a fresh approach on foreign policy.

"If you wanted a different kind of dialogue on foreign policy or on economic policy, then you would bring in some outside minds and get some other perspectives. There's none of that going on," he said.

At a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Robert Gates tried to play down suggestions of tensions with Donilon, after he was quoted as saying in a new book that Donilon would be a "disaster" as national security adviser.

"I have and have had a very productive and very good working relationship with Tom Donilon, contrary to what you may have read, and I look forward to continue working with him," Gates said.

WORKING RELATIONSHIP

A senior U.S. defense official acknowledged that the two men had "some issues" in the past but said they now enjoyed a good working relationship.

The resignation of Jones had been expected as part of a mid-term reshuffle at the White House, although he was thought to be going after the November 2 congressional election.

Gates has signaled his intention to resign sometime in 2011. Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, is also expected to retire.

The departures will give Obama an opportunity to reshape his national security team as the United States tries to find an exit strategy from the unpopular war in Afghanistan, wind down the war in Iraq and pursue a multi-pronged strategy to end nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.

Jones was the point person for coordinating foreign policy advice to Obama but was often portrayed as an outsider who struggled to make his voice heard over Obama's close-knit group of advisers who were with him on his 2008 election campaign.

Donilon, a lawyer, is close to Vice President Joe Biden and has had a long career in government, both in the White House and on Capitol Hill. During the Clinton administration, he was chief of staff to Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Before his elevation, he was one of Jones' deputies.

SKEPTIC

In his new role, Donilon will coordinate the review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where violence is at its highest level since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 to topple the Taliban leadership for harboring al Qaeda militants.

According to veteran U.S. journalist Bob Woodward's new book "Obama's Wars," the president vented to aides during last year's Afghanistan review about what he felt was a Pentagon effort to close off the option of a smaller troop increase.

"Donilon unloaded on many people at the Pentagon, invoking the president's name and insisting Obama wanted this fixed immediately. He was a lawyer with one client -- the president. But instead of absorbing Obama's frustration, he was a pure transmission belt for it," Woodward wrote.

Donilon is reported to be a strong supporter of refocusing U.S. foreign policy on other emerging challenges, such as China, whose surging economy has made it both a competitor and a vital partner in efforts to rebalance the global economy.

He made a high-profile trip to China with National Economic Council Director Larry Summers in September, amid growing domestic political pressure over China's currency policy.

Jones is the latest in a series of high-level Obama aides to recently leave the administration, following Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who quit to run for mayor of Chicago. Summers is leaving by the end of the year and Council of Economic Advisers Chairwoman Christina Romer left last month.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Phil Stewart and David Alexander; Editing by John O'Callaghan and Philip Barbara)