Next Defense Secretary Must Hit Ground Running

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
December 4, 2006
Pg. 7

No opposition expected for Tuesday hearings
By Tom Vanden Brook and Matt Kelley, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Robert Gates, President Bush's choice as the next Defense secretary, will have to act fast — within months, analysts and retired officers say — to effect change at the Pentagon and in Iraq.
Hearings on Gates' nomination are scheduled to begin Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Nobody has announced opposition to Gates, the 63-year-old president of Texas A&M University. He led the CIA from 1991 until early 1993.
“He has to be able to go in immediately and make changes” at the Pentagon, said committee member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. “He has to thoroughly re-examine the policy and strategy in Iraq. That's the most pressing and immediate priority.”
The challenges will be tough. Gates faces violent insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan that have forced troops into faster-than-normal deployments; a strained relationship between the Defense secretary and top generals; and a short time in which to make a difference.
Gates has to work closely and quickly with Congress to be successful, said William Cohen, a 24-year veteran of Congress and Defense secretary from 1997 to 2001. “As we get further into next year, obviously the political ambitions of those running for president will intensify, and the risk of more partisanship at that point is going to materialize,” Cohen said.
Gates' experience with the Iraq Study Group puts him “ahead of the curve in terms of understanding what needs to be done” in Iraq, Cohen said. Gates was a member of the bipartisan commission until his nomination Nov. 8. The group is scheduled to release its recommendations Wednesday, including an endorsement of a gradual pullout of U.S. troops.
If Bush does decide on a new Iraq policy, Cohen said, “Gates is in the best position to try” to make it happen.
Gates' appointment is a symbol that the Bush administration is open to changing course in Iraq, said Stephen Biddle, a defense expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.
However, “if it turns out the administration is not willing to contemplate any real change, Gates has just bought himself a ticket on the Titanic,” said Biddle, a former assistant professor at the Army War College. “He can mop the deck a bit, but we all know what happened to the Titanic.”
Pushing policy changes in Iraq is the real extent of Gates' potential influence, said retired general Jack Keane, a former Army vice chief of staff.
That's because Gates will only have time to influence the Pentagon's budget for one year, Keane said, “and that can be changed by a subsequent administration.”
Gates must also mend fences within the Pentagon, some analysts and retired generals say.
“There are going to be a lot of people happy to see Rumsfeld gone because he was a miserable boss to work for,” said Frederick Kagan, a military analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “There are a handful who are very loyal. But a much larger number happy to see a change.”
Gates should “create an atmosphere where you'll get your ass chewed for not speaking up,” said retired general William Nash, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Retired major general Paul Eaton, one of several generals who said last spring that Rumsfeld should resign, said Gates must listen to generals who advocate for a larger Army and Marine Corps. Rumsfeld failed to listen to advice on the need for more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Eaton said. “We have failed to build a military to meet the foreign policy of America.”
It's nonsense to claim that Rumsfeld discouraged dissent, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Rumsfeld solicited advice from military and civilian officials at the Pentagon, Whitman said, and did not reject calls for more troops.
“The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has always been based on the recommendations of experienced commanders on the ground, the combatant command and the best military advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Whitman said.
Rumsfeld should not be the scapegoat for the problems in Iraq and the Pentagon, said Richard Perle, a former Defense official and a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Instead, the entire Bush administration should be held accountable, said Perle, who led Rumsfeld's civilian advisory board during the buildup for the Iraq invasion.
Gates will be one of many people determining military policy, Perle said. “He'll have a seat at the table. But he's making very few of the decisions on his own.”
Hurdles ahead
If confirmed by the Senate as secretary of Defense, Robert Gates faces several major challenges. They include:
*Violent insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both conflicts force troops into faster-than-normal redeployment — some staying home for just a year between year-long tours in Iraq. The wars also destroy $2 billion in military equipment every month. Gates, in response to questions from the Senate, wrote that Iraq would be his top priority.
*A strained relationship between the Defense secretary and the military. Gates wrote the Senate Armed Services Committee that he intended to improve planning for post-combat operations, which he termed “crucial.”
*Little time in which to act. Gates wrote that he would work closely with Congress on Iraq strategy, but his window of opportunity to change course at the Pentagon will be short. He has about eight months to develop strong relations with legislators, said William Cohen, who was Defense secretary from 1997 to 2001.
 
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