Should Barack Obama choose to retain Robert Gates, if only for a year, he will telegraph a victory of the bankrupt status quo in the far-reaching and foremost area of Defense. Having already appointed two Tenet alums, John Brennan and Jami Miscik , (see http://www.dailykos.com/...) President-Elect Obama needs to show as much certitude with Defense as he is doing with Treasury. In making a strong case for a shift away from the Bush military era, Melvin Goodman suggests several well qualified, experienced leaders who would do far more to make us safer, reclaim the moral high road and save billions of dollars at the same time.
Mr. Goodman writes in today's Public Record: (http://pubrecord.org/...)
"The retention of Bob Gates at the Department of Defense for any length of time would signal Obama’s support for policies he has publicly questioned in the past and indicate that he lacks confidence in his own ultimate choice of Secretary of Defense. Gates has been an enthusiastic supporter of such Bush Administration policies as the deployment of a ballistic missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic; the rush to bring Ukraine and Georgia into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; continued spending on a National Missile Defense (currently the most expensive weapons system in the Pentagon’s inflated budget); and the abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. These policies have weakened the international regime for non-proliferation and the arms control process with Russia and should be reversed by the new Obama Administration."
Having spent the last eight years gifting hundreds of billions of dollars to the Hallibutons and Blackwaters of our economy, it is high time we put an end to the pillage.
"Gates has failed to tackle the huge budgetary, personnel, and organizational problems that exist at the Department of Defense. A recent study by the Government Accountability Office revealed nearly $300 billion in cost overruns on the largest defense acquisition programs, a problem that Gates has not addressed. Gates also favors an expanded role for the Pentagon in nation-building, which will lead to huge increases in the already-inflated defense budget as soldiers on the ground become both cops and social workers."
It is understandable that a new administration might hesitate to change horses in the middle of a transition for fear that it might strengthen the "enemy’s" resolve. That kind of thinking, however, is deeply flawed. There are several individuals, briefed and ready to go, who would not only bring to the table the highest levels of experience required as Secretary of Defense but also the significant defense changes we so need . . .and were promised.
"If Obama is genuinely seeking a bipartisan administration, then Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, an infantry officer in Vietnam and a man with deep knowledge of national-security affairs, would be an ideal choice.
Larry Korb, who has served both Democratic and Republican administrations at the Department of Defense, is an expert on defense spending and the weapons acquisition process. Among Democrats, Senator Jack Reed, another Vietnam veteran, and former senator Sam Nunn would be excellent choices. Richard Danzig has severed several administrations at the Pentagon and, unlike Gates, shares Obama’s priorities for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. None of these individuals requires on-the-job training at the Pentagon that would demand retaining Gates as secretary of defense for any length of time. Indeed, managing an appointment this way would be an insult to any qualified candidate for the job."
Let’s face it. Intelligence is still the key to any country’s security. Tragically, the Bush administration has raped the agencies of pure analysts, replacing them with individuals straight out of the military. Robert Gates will hardly put a stop to such a policy much less reverse the trend.
"The United States must return to the strategic agendas of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, which favored significant reductions of nuclear weapons, the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and enhanced effectiveness for the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States must end its development of low-yield nuclear weapons, such as bunker busters, and deployment of national missile defense in order to return to the high moral ground in the search for disarmament." . . . Gates "isolated the United States from the international community. President Obama must establish his own strategic agenda, and he should not begin by appointing or retaining those who served the Bush Administration and its failed policies."
We don’t have another year to waste.
Melvin A. Goodman is senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and author of Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. He is a professor of international security studies and chairman of the international relations department at the National War College. He was division chief and senior analyst at the Office of Soviet Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency from 1976 to 1986.