NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- This week's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition centerpiece profiles Mark Lippert -- a Navy reservist recently deployed to Iraq and Senator Barack Obama's chief foreign-policy advisor. Despite being a top aide and a close friend of the outspoken anti-war presidential candidate, Mr. Lippert has decided to join the war effort as an intelligence officer for an elite group of Navy Seals.
"Sen. Obama not only opposes the war, he has tried to distinguish himself in the Democratic field by stressing that he alone among the major candidates opposed it from the outset," writes Monica Langley, the Journal's Washington Deputy Bureau Chief in this week's Weekend Edition. "And Mr. Lippert, 34, has helped fine-tune those views, particularly on a pullout of American troops, even as he prepared to go to war. Since being called up for active duty and going on the Navy payroll, Mr. Lippert won't talk about his views on the war."
Ms. Langley adds, "The deployment of Lt. Lippert -- who will be gone for six months -- means a hole in Sen. Barack Obama's foreign policy team at a time when Mr. Obama is under sharpening attack by opponents and critics who say he lacks the experience in national-security affairs to lead the country in a time of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a global fight with Islamic extremists. It also means the straining of a friendship. Over the past two years, Sen. Obama and Mr. Lippert have traveled around the globe together, played one-on-one basketball, and shared each other's shoes."
For the past three months, while preparing to be deployed, Lt. Lippert has remained in touch with his office and Sen. Obama. Recently, as training intensifies, he has chosen to ignore much of the campaign material sent to him. Lt. Lippert helped enlist Denis McDonough, formerly foreign-policy advisor to then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, to take over his role. Lt. Lippert says that he is looking forward to coming back in six months and rejoining the Obama campaign.
Additional stories appearing in this week's Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal include the following:
Money & Investing: * Harry Macklowe Real Estate Deal: In perhaps the most closely watched deal in real estate circles, Harry Macklowe, a prominent and controversial New York real estate developer, is scrambling to replace $5 billion in short-term debt that come due by February. The debt partly funded his $7.6 billion purchase this year of several highly coveted office buildings in Manhattan. * Secure Transactions with Credit Cards: As more consumers pay with plastic for small purchases, local shopkeepers and restaurant owners are increasingly befuddled by card-industry rules that are supposed to keep those transactions secure. Weekend Journal: * Art Sell Off: An unusual amount of artwork is slated to be sold off at next month's auctions in London, which run concurrent with the Frieze art fair. Christie's is aiming to sell as much as $154 million in art that week, up from last year's presale estimates of $80 million, and sellers range from jeweler Laurence Graff to the Royal Academy of London. The large number of works on the block, combined with a financial climate that has some players worried about Wall Street woes spilling over into the art world, is ratcheting up the anxiety level surrounding the always closely watched October auctions. Some dealers are referring to the week of auctions as "Judgment Week."
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