People are beginning to discuss cabinet positions in an Obama administration, and I have no problem looking a little ahead (with fingers crossed). One thing I keep hearing is that Obama may keep Robert Gates on (at least, for a while) as his Secretary of Defense. Now, I was one of the lonely few liberal commentators that counseled against getting worked up about Gates’ nomination. Yes, he was tangentially involved in Iran-Contra, and he did give misleading (perhaps, perjurious) testimony to Congress. But he represented a return to ‘realism’ in the Bush administration and was one of the best realistically available replacements for Rumsfeld at the time. Gates has been an advocate for closing Guantanamo Bay and against a preemptive attack on Iran. That he has gathered enough confidence in the bipartisan Establishment to be seriously considered for a continuing role in an Obama administration is a testimony to his better than average (for a Bush appointment) performance.
But, having said that, he cannot be permitted to remain in charge of the Pentagon. At least, not for very long. It isn’t that he’s done a terrible job. The problem lies elsewhere. The Pentagon is rotted through with corruption, especially in procurement and subcontracting. The whole edifice needs to be ripped up and strong oversight needs to be put in place, both internally and externally. Gates didn’t create this problem, but he didn’t solve it, either. On top of that, there are serious issues at the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency related to domestic surveillance. All of that has to be assessed and addressed. Gates would have too many conflicts of interest to ably preside over such a mission.
Gates has to go.
