New Man at the Pentagon Puts His Hand on Baghdad Exit Door

[Divernan]

www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2449835,00.html


The Sunday Times - World

The Sunday Times November 12, 2006

New man at the Pentagon puts his hand on Baghdad exit door
Sarah Baxter in Washington

IF Robert Gates had any illusions about the scale of violence in Iraq, they were dispelled when he flew into Baghdad last summer. Gates, who was named US defence secretary last week by President George W Bush, had gone to observe conditions at first hand as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the independent commission co-chaired by James Baker, the former secretary of state. It was a terrifying experience.

As the aircraft entered Iraqi airspace, the team donned helmets and flak jackets. “You’re dropping 10,000ft and you’ve got to avoid missiles. As soon as you land, you’re flown by helicopter to the green (international) zone. There were attack helicopters all around us firing flares to make sure that the heat-seeking missiles didn’t hit us,” said one of his travelling companions.

Once there, Gates met the key players from the American ambassador and US generals to Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s beleaguered prime minister. A close associate described him as “distraught over the incompetence of how the Iraq operation had been run”. He went on to ask sharp questions, including whether more American troops were needed to shore up the Iraqi capital. “Gates is open to a lot of suggestions. He hasn’t got a closed mind,” the source added.

Donald Rumsfeld, his predecessor at the Pentagon, has never been regarded as a listener. After the pasting Bush received in the midterm elections last week, it was clear his tough-minded defence secretary was going to take the fall for a war that has claimed the lives of 2,846 American soldiers. But

[HaggardsMethDealer]

1. Wow, total admistration spin.

Great article. Reads like James Baker's buddies wrote it.