Gates staying on as defense chief
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to stay on at the Pentagon well into next year, providing some continuity as the nation fights two wars and putting a Republican face on President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the transition team's deliberations.
The announcement that President Bush's Pentagon chief will keep his job is slated for next week when Obama plans to roll out his national security team -- which is also expected to include Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, the officials said.
One aide to a top Pentagon official described the decision as "about 85 percent a done deal." He said several key issues are still being finalized, including how long Gates will stay, along with identifying which of Gates' top aides will stay on as well and how many Obama defense advisers will come to work for him.
Gates, the aide said, has expressed a desire to stay on for at least a year to ensure he is not viewed as a "lame duck" and has sufficient standing in the new administration to implement the new president's policies.
At the same time, "There are staffing complications that have to be worked out," according to the aide, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly. "There is a whole lot of Democrats who waiting to take on Pentagon jobs."
The possibility of Obama retaining Gates, who replaced Donald H. Rumsfeld in December 2006, was first discussed during the presidential campaign when it was raised by Richard J. Danzig, a top Obama defense adviser and former Navy secretary who has also been mentioned as a possible Pentagon boss or number two.
Gates, a registered independent, is widely respected by both parties. Although he opposed increasing US troops in Iraq when he was nominated by President Bush, he nonetheless carried out the so-called "surge" strategy that is credited with helping improve the security situation in the country. Over the objections of members of Bush's war cabinet, Gates has also advocated engaging Iran diplomatically.
He made headlines earlier this year when he delivered a speech at Kansas State University -- which aides said he wrote personally -- advocating for strengthening America's "soft power," including diplomacy and economic influence, and warning that the United States's increasing reliance on military power to achieve its objectives is self-defeating.
And like Obama, Gates believes the United States must turn its attention from the war in Iraq to a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Speaking before NATO defense ministers in Toronto over the weekend, Gates indicated that the United States will be boosting its military presence in Afghanistan above and beyond current plans to expand the force.
"We are clearly going to be putting more troops in," he said.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that John Brennan, Obama's top adviser on intelligence, took his name out of the running today for any intelligence position in the new administration.
Brennan wrote in a letter to Obama that he did not want to be a distraction. His potential appointment as CIA director has provoked protests from liberals who associate him with the Bush administration's interrogation, detention, and rendition policies.
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Time to go with the flow and give everything a chance to work. Those who don't toe the policy can be let go if you know what I mean. The Bush administration left a huge mess and now it has to be fixed even if it takes several years.
COLON POWELL as head of the C I A . Gates is doing a good job at DEFENSE. The two of them will work well together on keeping us safe.And let's not forget that CONLON POWELL came out for OBAMA during the election, which means those two will not be rivals. This is a gteat opportunity to have a good working team on sefense matters.
yes!!
Solutions in bringing the United State back into its feet.
I’ll not give an introduction to this topic, but I’ll go straight to the point:
First: Cut all federal employers salaries 10%.
Or face cutting all federal manpower jobs to its bone.
Second: De-taxing most of tech created from within the US.
Or face a download in its internal national selling product.
Third: Cover the cost, in full for each state, to supply food stamps to all families whom lost their living quarter.
Or face an economic income decrease on all American farms, and supermarkets, banks and the likes.
Fourth: Give Medicaid coverage to all families whom lost their living quarter.
Or face health care to be downgraded to a dangerous level, at the cost of all citizens health, therefore, affecting as a boomerang, our human resources, manpower and productivity.
Fifth: Dedicate a special sum of economic resources to be used just by each and any state to keep the police force at the actual level of officers, not to “fire” some of its members.
Or face a high, very high increase in crimes all and around all states.
Sixth: Do keep, under any cost, the politics already planned by the elected President, in reference to internal decisions as he is taking such crucial decisions.
Seventh: On Latin America.
The reason why there are so many immigrants coming here no matter what, is the poor economy affecting there nations.
The United States of America most see as reasonable this phenomenon. To reverse that, it is just, noble and the best solution, to start creating means of human work, this is, factories in all American nations that are not claiming to have a socialist government. If, the trend of so many Latin nations preaching to become a socialist state, the United State of America will be isolated, slowly, of its normal domestic market done with those nations… China is going to take over the market, as well a Russia. Then what? Then US is going to “try” to compete with a different market based on Socialism and Communism, not Capitalism and Free Enterprise.
Democracy is the best form of living, for it comprises Capitalism, Free Enterprise, Socialism, Communism and Dictatorship. Socialism indeed is comprised by dictatorship as well by communism. Communism is comprised by dictatorship and some socialism.
There had been a lot of natural phenomenon that had caused some catastrophe in Latin America… they are, and are changing, mostly their Democratic System. The United States needs to be surrounded by Democracy, in order to guarantee its existence, true, Europe is a Democracy, but it is too far off US, yet it need US as well we need them, Latin America is going to become the first danger on the existence of US, if it turns into other forms of systems… and US is not giving the fruit of Democracy to Democratic nations, but to Communist nations: Europe to Russia and US to China. What an irony.
Iran will become a threat to Europe as Venezuela will become a threat to US. Iran: seeking nuclear energy; next: Venezuela.
We are not, actually in the brink of a nuclear war, just because Russia and China learnt that with a war of that type, no one wins. Iran still do not know that… neither will Venezuela.
President Obama got a good start in respect to its local national plan, but is going to make a strategic misstep, a giant one into an abysmal contempt decision in removing American troops from Iraq.
Disgrace will follow on US, then the downfall of the greatest nation capable of preserving all human existence on Earth.
America: what is US waiting for?
Excellent decision. Gates has done an excellent job and with his experience and bipartisanship will be credit to the new administration. Next to Joe Biden, he's the best appointment so far. If only John Kerry had been appointed Secretary of State.
As a democrat, I have no even objection to secratery Gates's staying longer for a smooth transition in the Obama cabinet, but I can't stand having Billary as the secratery of state. At least Michele should have wispered to the big ears of the Mr. nice-guy about the troubles coming with the lady who can't eevn hide her crocodile tears.
"There is a whole lot of Democrats ..."? We need some unionized copy editors on the internet.
Does this represent Mr.Obamas sense of change!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, where's the change? For a war-weary public, this is sad day. Obama is showing he cares more about the people who didn't vote for him (many of whom will never support him, no matter how much he panders to them, as he will learn) than the majority of the people who did, all of whom want BOTH of these immoral and pointless wars to end.
Any other change you hoped for may be equally illusory, as war and occupation have a way of sucking already scarce resources away from any of the programs that might actual help us become a better, stronger, healthier nation. Goodnight and good luck, America.
Apparently CHANGE means Obama will CHANGE HIS MIND
So much for "drastically changing course in Iraq" and "change we can believe in". You heard it here first folks, this guy is the next Deval (remember? he promised lowering property taxes to get elected and then never even tried to actually do it). "Yes We Can" will soon become "Well, we thought we could, but now we can't. Sorry about those middle class tax cuts - that we can't do anymore now that I'm in office - but we'll be able to do it in about 3.5 years when I start to run again."
When will you loony toon moonbats see through these two faced liberals????
Great pick President-Elect Obama. I'm glad you picked Gates. That man has done an amazing job turning things around in Iraq. I did not vote for you, but I will give you credit when you do something I support, and I support keeping Bob Gates as Secretary of Defense.
Well, now THAT's CHANGE.
This is a very good move and proves beyond a doubt the brilliance of Obama in recognizing what is working and what is not working, and proves, furthermore, his ability to look beyond party differences. Gates has been working closely with General Petraeus who will be recognized by history as being a very competent general, and both of them are actually implementing a functional and sensible policy and strategy in the quagmire that is Iraq- also a policy that is nowhere like Rumsfield's. Gates, through Petraeus, who learned from the events that gave rise to the "knights of Ameriya" counter-insurgent population movement, has recognized that by allowing the Iraqi population an active participation in eliminating and ejecting insurgencies, and by taking a supporting role, they achieve far more this way, because of the subsequent cooperation that comes forth out of this, by the population at large that can identify insurgents individually and their resources much better than any technical or human intelligence source the army develops on its own or forcibly extracts.. In this way they are winning the battle against the insurgents with far greater rate of success than in previous years.
A few Neocons commenting here still are behind the curve. During W's watch the world markets collapsed because of lack of regulation originating in the USA, and the planning for two wars has been lackluster. Obama is not sworn in yet and many project failure due to "liberals" setting the stage for potential road to recovery. Gates will be the only carry over, and as we have seen in the past, perhaps he won't last very long. The time has come for the Neocons to man up to the failings of 8 years of excuse making for W, Dick and all that have come and gone. Good bye.