Rumsfeld goes at 'critical' time in war

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, a day after a Democratic "thumping" in the midterm elections, said he would replace his embattled secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, with his father's former CIA director, Robert M. Gates. But while the president hailed Gates's "fresh perspective," he and Gates provided no indication of how Iraq policy would change.

Just a week earlier, Bush had said Rumsfeld was doing a "fantastic job" and should stay for the remainder of his presidency.

Bush, asked at a White House press conference whether the message of the election was to bring US troops home from Iraq, responded: "I'd like our troops to come home, too, but I want them to come home with victory." He said his goal is to enable a self-sufficient Iraq to defend itself and not become a terrorist haven.

Gates, 63, has served six presidents of both parties in national security positions. In brief comments that provided no clue about how or whether Iraq policy might change, Gates said in the Oval Office: "The United States is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are fighting against terrorism worldwide, and we face other serious challenges to peace and our security. I believe the outcome of these conflicts will shape our world for decades to come."

Gates, who has been president of Texas A&M University since 2002, must be confirmed as defense secretary by the Senate. He has served on a bipartisan commission that is slated to deliver recommendations to the president in the coming weeks about what steps to take next in Iraq.

Bush said that "after a series of thoughtful conversations" he and Rumsfeld "agreed that the timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon." The president said that while the 74-year-old Rumsfeld has been a "superb leader," he also "appreciates the value of bringing in a fresh perspective during a critical period in this war." Rumsfeld will remain as secretary of defense until Gates takes over.

Rumsfeld, whose combative style was exemplified by his Oct. 26 comment that reporters questioning the Iraq policy should "back off," summarized his six years as Bush's Pentagon chief yesterday by paraphrasing Winston Churchill. "I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof," Rumsfeld said. He added that the war in Iraq is "complex for people to understand" and said Bush's leadership will be "recorded by history."

Rumsfeld's removal was welcomed by a number of leading Democrats and Republicans, but for strikingly different reasons.

Democrats said they hoped Rumsfeld's departure would lead to a new Iraq policy that would include a gradual redeployment of US troops out of Iraq.

Senator John F. Kerry, who called for Rumsfeld's resignation in September 2003 during his presidential bid, said in a statement yesterday that "the best way to honor the brave men and women of our armed forces is with a strategy for success that brings our troops home."

Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, " It now appears that [Rumsfeld] has decided to 'cut and run' instead of facing a new Congress to whom the administration must answer on what went wrong in Iraq and how we can now change direction."

But Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican and 2008 presidential prospect, believed that Rumsfeld had not put enough troops into Iraq and said he hoped that Gates would recognize that the US troop level in Iraq has to be increased in order to curtail the violence.

McCain, who has been among the most supportive of Bush's Iraq policy, has nonetheless been a harsh critic of Rumsfeld. He told reporters in Arizona yesterday that he lost confidence in Rumsfeld long ago, citing "a long list of misjudgments and errors that we made that has cost us enormously in American blood."

If Democrats take over the Senate and the confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee is held in the next session, it would be overseen by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan. Levin said yesterday that he would question Gates on his willingness to provide information about pre-war intelligence and the costs of the war.

"If we are in the majority, we will have subpoena power," Levin said in a conference call with reporters. Levin said that he would ask Gates about a Democratic proposal calling on Bush to begin a phased withdrawal from Iraq.

Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who also serves on the Armed Services Committee, said that the willingness to cooperate with investigations would be a "one of the key issues" in Gates's confirmation hearings.

Bush's former chief of staff, Andrew Card, had suggested on several occasions that the president heed GOP suggestions for replacing Rumsfeld. "It wasn't that he didn't have the advice and counsel that included those recommendations," Card said in a telephone interview yesterday.

A number of retired military leaders have also called for Rumsfeld's ouster, a call echoed on Monday in an editorial published by the Military Times media group.

Analysts said it was unclear how the Gates nomination would change Iraq policy.

"They had to do something to make it seem like they are changing, they are flexible, but it doesn't indicate a substantive change," said Judith Yaphe , an Iraq specialist at the National Defense University. "From what I understood from the president's speech today, he says this is a war that he has to win, and that his strategic objective hasn't changed."

Gates is a member of the Iraq Study Group, cochaired by a Republican, former secretary of state James A. Baker III, and a Democrat, former US representative Lee Hamilton of Indiana. Media interviews with the cochairmen suggest that they may recommend some radical departures from current policy, including direct talks with Syria and Iran about their involvement in Iraq. Bush said yesterday that he intends to study closely the commission's recommendations.

Bush yesterday sought to explain why he gave reporters a misleading response a week earlier about his intention to keep Rumsfeld on the job. Reporters had asked if Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney would remain.

"My answer was, you know, 'they're going to stay on,' " Bush said. "And the reason why is I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign. And so the only way to answer that question and to get you on to another question was to give you that answer." Bush also noted that at that time he had not yet discussed the position with Gates, a conversation that took place on Sunday at the president's Texas ranch.