I feel better about the retention of Robert Gates knowing that his staff will be gutted, including the Undersecretary for Policy Eric S. Edelman and the Undersecretary for Acquisition John J. Young Jr. I’m also very pleased to learn that Michael G. Vickers, assistant secretary for special operations, low-intensity conflict, and interdependent capabilities, will probably be kept on in his position. Mike Vickers, while serving at the CIA, single-handedly designed the program for the Afghan mujahideen that defeated the Soviet Army. In fact, his program was so solid that he set it up and then resigned, knowing full-well that the pipeline of arms and training would work without any further need for his managerial oversight. Vickers is both a military genius and the best-versed person in understanding the monster he created. If you’ve read Charlie Wilson’s War, you know what I’m talking about.
As for the other positions, it’s obvious that we need a new undersecretary for acquisition. The Pentagon is a mess of waste and corruption. The whole tide of privatization should be reversed. The Defense Intelligence Agency also needs to be reined in and prevented from doing domestic intelligence (for example, spying on Quaker anti-war groups). It seems that Obama gets this.
The sensitive position of undersecretary for intelligence, created by Donald H. Rumsfeld while he was leading the Pentagon, is also likely to see a leadership change, transition sources said. “There is a real issue about how to fully recuperate” that office from the Rumsfeld era, and it would require a “team player” to promote more effective cooperation with the rest of the intelligence community, one source close to the transition said. The job is currently held by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr.
I am still concerned that the retention of Gates will mean that the Obama administration will feel somewhat constrained about exposing the rot they find in the Pentagon. They won’t want to embarrass their chief. For that reason alone, I would not have retained Gates, but at least they will be cleaning house underneath him.