President Obama's Promises Regarding Defense

Promise Honored Appoint a national Cyber Advisor who will report directly to me (Comments)
"As president, I'll make cyber-security the top priority that it should be in the 21st century. I'll declare our cyber-infrastructure a strategic asset, and appoint a National Cyber Advisor who will report directly to me." — 7/16/08 West Lafayette, Ind.

Promises Broken Close Guantanamo Bay detention center as soon as possible (Comments)
"As president, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act and adhere to the Geneva Conventions." — 8/10/07, Washington, D.C.

Promise in the Works Reject and ban the use of torture (Comments)
"When I am president, America will reject torture, without exception." — 8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Promise in the Works End the use of extreme rendition (Comments)
"From both a moral standpoint and a practical standpoint, torture is wrong. Barack Obama will end the use torture without exception. He also will eliminate the practice of extreme rendition, where we outsource our torture to other countries."

Secure all nuclear material within four years (Comments)
"As president, I will lead a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons and material at vulnerable sites within four years — the most effective way to prevent terrorists from acquiring a bomb." — 4/23/07, Chicago

Keep non-proliferation commitment (Comments)
"We will not pursue unilateral disarmament. As long as nuclear weapons exist, we'll retain a strong nuclear deterrent. But we'll keep our commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on the long road towards eliminating nuclear weapons." — 10/2/07, Chicago

Strengthen non-proliferation treaty (Comments)
"Obama will crack down on nuclear proliferation by strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so that countries like North Korea and Iran that break the rules will automatically face strong international sanctions." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Stop development of new nuclear weapons (Comments)
"He will stop the development of new nuclear weapons; work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair-trigger alert; seek dramatic reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons and material; and set a goal to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate-range missiles so that the agreement is global." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Open "America Houses" in Islamic countries (Comments)
"We will open 'America Houses' in cities across the Islamic world, with Internet, libraries, English lessons, stories of America's Muslims and the strength they add to our country, and vocational programs." — 8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Support a global education fund (Comments)
"I will support a $2 billion global education fund to counter the radical madrassas." — 8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Establish quadrennial review of homeland security threats (Comments)
"I will establish a Quadrennial Review at the Department of Homeland Security—just like at the Pentagon—to undertake a top-to-bottom review of the threats we face and our ability to confront them." — 8/10/07, Washington, D.C.

Increase funding to train police to gather intelligence (Comments)
"I will increase funding to help train police to gather information and connect it to the intelligence they receive from the federal government." — 8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Address al Qaeda prison recruitment efforts (Comments)
"I will address the problem in our prisons, where the most disaffected and disconnected Americans are being explicitly targeted for conversion by al Qaeda and its ideological allies." — 8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Expand Army and Marine Corps enlistments (Comments)
"I will add 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines to relieve the strain on our ground forces." — 8/21/07, Kansas City, Mo.

Provide U.S. soldiers with necessary equipment (Comments)
"As president, I will ensure that every service member has what they need to do the job safely and successfully." — 8/21/07, Kansas City, Mo.

"Obama will give our troops new equipment, armor, training, and skills like language training." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Set fixed term for director of national intelligence (Comments)
"I will make the director of national intelligence an official with a fixed term, like the chairman of the Federal Reserve." — 10/2/07, Chicago

Consult Congress before taking military action (Comments)
"I will call for a standing, bipartisan consultative group of congressional leaders on national security. I will meet with this consultative group every month and consult with them before taking major military action." — 10/2/07, Chicago

Consult with U.S. military commanders (Comments)
"When I am commander in chief, I will seek out, listen to and respect the views of military commanders." — 3/12/08, Chicago

Target every source of fear in the Americas (Comments)
"That is why there will never be true security unless we focus our efforts on targeting every source of fear in the Americas. That's what I'll do as president of the United States." — 5/23/08, Miami

Create information declassification center (Comments)
"He will institute a national declassification center to make declassification secure but routine, efficient and cost-effective." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Ensure U.S. military has sufficient training (Comments)
"Obama will rebuild trust with those who serve by ensuring that soldiers and Marines have sufficient training time before they are sent into battle." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Strengthen civilian agencies (Comments)
"He will also strengthen our civilian capacity, so that our civilian agencies have the critical skills and equipment they need to integrate their efforts with our military." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Give National Guard appropriate equipment (Comments)
"He will permit them adequate time to train and rest between deployments and provide the National Guard with the equipment they need for foreign and domestic emergencies." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Add National Guard chief to Joint Chiefs (Comments)
"(Obama) will also give the Guard a seat at the table by making the chief of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Combat terrorism & reaffirm American values (Comments)
"Obama will fight terrorism and protect America with a comprehensive strategy that finishes the fight in Afghanistan, cracks down on the al Qaeda safe haven in Pakistan, develops new capabilities and international partnerships, engages the world to dry up support for extremism and reaffirms American values." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Require national security officials to hold broadband town halls (Comments)
"Obama will bring foreign policy decisions directly to the people by requiring his national security officials to have periodic national broadband town hall meetings to discuss foreign policy." — Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create international anti-terrorism network (Comments)
"As president, I will launch an effort across our government to stay ahead of this threat (bio-terrorism).… I've proposed a Shared Security Partnership that invests $5 billion over three years to forge an international intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure to take down terrorist networks." — 7/16/08 West Lafayette, Ind.

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