or
Join Now!
|
|
Home/Government/Politics
|
| Forum |
Ask A Question |
Question Board |
FAQs |
Search |
Return to Question Board
| Question Details |
Asked By |
Asked On |
| GATES INHERITS FROM RUMMY MILITARY WITH COWED LEADERSHIP |
Choux... |
11/09/06 |
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — "If confirmed as defense secretary, Robert M. Gates would take control of a military whose ground forces are stretched and strained by a costly and bloody war and whose officers yearn to give unvarnished military advice without fear of reprisal.
Addressing their needs, hearing their views and gaining their trust are widely viewed as crucial first steps toward any change Mr. Gates has in mind for prosecuting the war in Iraq.
“Task No. 1 is to generate the strategy for victory in Iraq,” said a senior officer who served under Donald H. Rumsfeld, the outgoing defense secretary. “A critical enabler of that, in my view, is getting the right information from the right people. One source — one source — of right information is the senior uniformed military who have to be empowered to speak the truth.”
It may not be easy for Mr. Gates to repair the strained communications with the uniformed military, said another officer, who recalled that sessions with Mr. Rumsfeld have been nicknamed “the wire-brush treatment” because of his brusque style of questioning. Like others, the officer spoke on condition of anonymity out of military tradition.
Mr. Gates is a member of the independent panel reviewing the United States’ strategy on Iraq for President Bush, and his influence on that group’s recommendations can hardly be diminished by his selection to run the Pentagon. Little is known about his views on recommendation’s by the panel, which is led by other heavy hitters: former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Representative Lee H. Hamilton.
The group has been to Iraq and already heard from the military. But that was before the announcement that Mr. Rumsfeld would be leaving.
Mr. Gates “inherits the best fighting force in the world, but what he also inherits is a cowed leadership,” said another recently retired senior officer.
One Air Force general said that he thought the first month of Mr. Gates’s tenure would “make or break” his stint at the Pentagon, and that he should start with candid sessions with the joint chiefs.
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Mr. Gates struck him as “somebody who will listen, particularly to members of the uniformed services.”
“And I think, in that respect,” he said, “he will be a very pleasant change from Secretary Rumsfeld.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, and his deputy, Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., have been criticized by some in uniform as siding with Mr. Rumsfeld on critical issues. The question is whether the two senior officers took to Mr. Rumsfeld the arguments of other officers, and whether the senior officer corps learned to censor itself.
“Inside the Pentagon, the belief is this current chairman and this current vice chairman were selected for their ability to get along with Rumsfeld,” said a senior civilian at the Department of the Army.
At the same time, Mr. Gates will probably move to correct an unintended side effect of Mr. Rumsfeld’s management of the armed services, as the Army and Air Force have already moved outside traditional budget channels to make their case for more money directly to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, breaking decades of agreed rules even as Pentagon spending grows to historic levels.
Just as important as improving trust between the Pentagon’s civilian leaders and the senior officers is mending relations between senior officers and the military’s next generation of generals and admirals — some of whom see their elders as not standing up to Mr. Rumsfeld and his inner circle of political appointees when they disagreed with planning for the war in Iraq and the counterinsurgency effort.
Course corrections for Iraq are certainly anticipated, but officials predicted that Mr. Rumsfeld’s push for future military transformation would become a secondary priority as Mr. Gates deals with the challenges that threaten to overwhelm both the military and its budget.
“Gates will focus less on transformation and more on understanding the world around us,” one Pentagon official said. “We all agree that needs to happen.”
If confirmed, Mr. Gates might be able to shift intelligence assets to help the military mission in Iraq.
Senior military officers and Pentagon civilians, speaking Wednesday after President Bush announced the resignation of Mr. Rumsfeld, said Mr. Gates’s long experience in intelligence was well suited for him to lead the military’s global campaign against terrorism.
Mr. Gates will face a Congress, especially a Democratic-controlled House, that is less hostile to him than it might have been to Mr. Rumsfeld had he continued....". |
Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 11/10/06 9:55 am:
I dare the author of this pos to got to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace and tell him he is "cowed " . The do the same to Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr.;General Peter J. Schoomaker;Admiral Michael G. Mullen;General Michael W. Hagee;and General T. Michael Moseley of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then go to General John Abizaid commander CENTCOM ;Admiral William J. Fallon commander PACOM ;Admiral Timothy J. Keating commander NORTHCOM ,and do the same . Then go to Iraq and tell Gen. Casey this .Dare ya !!
Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 11/10/06 3:16 pm:
Steve ;they will play lip service to Iran Contra to placate the moonbat bloggers who are sure to go bananas over the connection. For me ;the only CIA person I trust without reservations right now is James Woolsey . Gates joined with Zbigniew Brzezinski ; Carter's National Security Advisor , in chairing a task force who issued a report titled "Iran: Time for a New Approach." . Their big new idea ? Talk to Iran.
"The Islamic Republic appears to be solidly entrenched and the country is not on the brink of revolutionary upheaval," ...."Those forces that are committed to preserving Iran's current system remain firmly in control and represent the country's only authoritative interlocutors. The urgency of the concerns surrounding [Iran's] policies mandates the United States to deal with the current regime rather than wait for it to fall."
If I'm wrong about him I'll admit it but I have strong concerns that Bush has given up and is asking daddy's men to come out of retirement to craft a graceful exit.
|
| |
|
Your Options |
Additional Options are only visible when you login! !
|
|
|
|
