JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Obama adviser heading to Syria

By Ben Harris · February 14, 2008

The controversy about Obama's foreign policy advisers continues. The New York Sun reports that Zbigniew Brzezinski, an adviser to Barack Obama, is en route to Damascus at the helm of a delegation from the RAND Corporation.

Brzezinski, who was Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, is considered cool to Israel, and he was cited in a recent American Thinker article as a major reason for concern about Obama's position on the Middle East.

There's some confusion over just who is advising Obama on the Middle East. The Sun called Brzezinski one of Obama's "main advisers," but also quotes a campaign spokesperson as saying Brzezinski is not a "day-to-day" adviser.

That jibes with what the campaign told us. Only four people advise Obama on Israel/Mideast questions: Tony Lake (more on his background here), Dan Shapiro, Jewish liaison Eric Lynn, and Denis McDonough, the campaign's overall foreign policy coordinator.