I have been generally pleased with the job Robert Gates has done as Defense Secretary, both under Obama and under Bush. I was a lonely voice who said he was a decent pick to replace Rumsfeld despite his ties to the Iran-Contra Affair and his perjurious testimony before Congress. In retrospect, he’s probably the best nomination that Bush made for anything in his entire eight years in office. But I opposed his continuation as secretary in the Obama administration.
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.
It was inevitable that some elements from Gates time serving in the Bush administration would remain in the Obama administration, and it was equally inevitable that some of those things would come back to bite Obama in the ass.
It’s time to be realistic about Afghanistan. And it’s time for some clean hands at the Pentagon. Bob Gates has served his purpose. He’s actually done a pretty good job of cleaning up Rumsfeld’s mess and of being a team player in the Obama administration. But there is just too much rot in the Pentagon from the Bush years for someone who served during the Bush years to be credible enough to clean it up. If Gates remains, bad things will happen. He should stay no later than the end of the year.
How about exiting after the midterms like Rumsfeld? Was that what you had in mind?
Who would his replacement be? I fear he won’t leave because the Senate can’t confirm anyone else.
Depends on election results and what the Senate Dems do about the filibuster.
The President of the United States from responsibility for his administration’s actions. Gates does what his president tells him to do. It is time to get “realistic about Afghanistan” and the guy who needs to wake up to that lives in the White House.
Who do you see as his replacement? I don’t have anyone in mind, so I’m open for lots of ideas.
Gates has allowed Obama to consolidate his position as commander in chief instead of starting off, as Clinton did, with a successful mutiny. Clinton, with the hapless loser Aspen at the helm, never had a chance.
However, I think that Obama is now running into the consequences of his biggest failure – cripplingly slow appointments of civil servants and political bureaucrats.
Gates announced he is leaving in a year. That was a bit ago.
Pretty much the exact same argument applies to all Bush’s leftovers in this administration. I don’t blame Obama for keeping them on to help with the transition, but his credibility depends on making a clean sweep sooner than later.
Next Geithner and Bernanke, although whether the President can fire the Fed Chief is an interesting constitutional question. Maybe Bernanke should be “persuaded” to spend more time with his family.