ABC News: Sources say Robert Gates will stay on for one year as Sec. Defense

[sabra]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/11/gates-a-done-de.html

Gates a 'Done Deal'

Martha Raddatz and Jake Tapper Report:

Sources tell ABC News that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be staying on in the top Pentagon job, for at least the first year of the Obama administration. "It is a done deal," a source close to the process tells ABC News.

Gates, while a registered independent, has served numerous Republican administrations. President George W. Bush nominated Gates to replace the Donald Rumsfeld after the 2006 midterm elections, when the war in Iraq was spiraling out of control.

The former Eagle Scout is expected to be rolled out immediately after the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend as part of a larger national security team expected to include Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as Secretary of State; Marine Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.) as National Security Adviser; Admiral Dennis Blair (Ret.) as Director of National Intelligence; and Dr. Susan Rice as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

As CIA Director for President George H.W. Bush in 1992, Gates conveyed to incoming President Bill Clinton that he wished to stay on in that role. Clinton did not keep him on, replacing him instead with Jim Woolsey.

[Zynx]

1. I am completely okay with this.

I wouldn't want too many people other than Gates in there.

[tekisui]

2. That is not a surprise.

And, that covers Obama's statement of including a repuke. No more, thank, you.

[onehandle]

3. And then, Defense Secretary Wesley Clark. nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Agreed

I think Gates is merely keeping the seat warm for Gen. Clark, who will be eligible to take the job in 2010.

[onehandle]

8. General Clark retired on May 2, 2000. Here's hoping. nt

[VeraAgnes]

10. You got it!

I believe that indeed is the plan.

[City Lights]

13. Keeping my fingers crossed... nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Is Gates a team player?

I think the reason he's staying on is that Obama really wants Wes Clark for the job, but Clark isn't eligible until 2010. But will Gates follow Obama's lead in things? Will he have any real power or influence with the next President?

[sabra]

6. over the last year or so various reports indicated that Gates "saved" us from attacking Iran

we shall see...

[leveymg]

12. That's been my impression, as well. But, he was hardly alone.

Someone else who deserves our thanks for not making a bad situation in Iraq and Afghanistan into a regional calamity was Gen. Pete Pace.

I wish more in the progressive blogosphere realized that the most effective anti-war organization in Washington has been the Joint Chiefs of Staff and some civilians, like Gates, in the Intelligence Community.

Thank G-d there were still a few grownups around.

[Thrill]

7. Lets see who Obama adds as Deputy. I would like to see Clark or Hagel

[WI_DEM]

9. Gates was actually one of the few better choices made by W, and a big improvement over Rummy

[dansolo]

17. Wasn't Gates forced on W by his father?

I wouldn't give Bush any credit for picking Gates to replace Runsfeld.

[Johonny]

25. That's what is generally believed

Bush I in a rare W presidential event pushed Gates heavily on Junior. Gates has not been a team player but has for the most part done what Bush I wanted. Stabilize Iraq well enough to allow America to leave with some sort of a image that "the mission is done".

[Captain Hilts]

11. Yaaay! He's done a great job under very difficult circumstances. nt

[FrenchieCat]

14. If anyone was chosen to stay.....it should be Gates.

then Wes Clark comes in for the swoop, as he becomes eligible for the position in 2010. Gives him a chance to wrap up his business ventures. Perfect!

Did You know that Wes Clark was at Grant Park on November 4th?

Change has come to America
Submitted by Wes Clark on November 5, 2008 - 6:49pm.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16778

Here is Wes Clark with President Elect Obama on November 1st, in Colorado campaigning.

[Sebastian Doyle]

21. I hope this IS because of Clark

Because I sure as fuck can't think of anything else that justifies it.

"Well he's better than Rumsfeld" isn't exactly a glowing endorsement, but that seems to be all anyone can say about Gates.

[theboss]

30. Is there any indication that Obama has ever held a conversation with Clark?

I've never understood the Clark worship here nor have I ever seen any interest from Obama in appointing Clark to, well, anything.

[DevonRex]

15. And because Gates will be working for Obama, he can talk about

what has gone on, without Bush trying to shut him up.

[camera obscura]

16. Good plan - Gates can help with the transition, especially with Petraeus & the other holdovers

I would imagine National Security & foreign policy is the hardest part due to the covert nature of the intelligence. We all know W didn't care about a successful transition. Glad Obama knows better.

[liberalpragmatist]

18. This guards against wingnut "stabbed-in-the-back" theories

If Gates oversees withdrawal from Iraq, negotiations with Taliban figures in Afghanistan, and diplomacy with Iran, this provides excellent cover. It defangs opponents' "dolschstoss" theories like the kind the right (and many in the military) have promoted since the end of the Vietnam War ("we could have won if only for those damned liberals!").

And if he's only staying for 1-2 years, that leaves plenty of time for other options. Wes Clark, as many mentioned, is one, but more likely picks are Richard Danzig, John Hamre, or Jack Reed. All of whom would be excellent.

[Unsane]

19. Change we can believe in

:eyes:

[FrenchieCat]

20. Who do you want for him to appoint to this position?

Do share!

[Unsane]

22. Richard Danzig

Thanks so much for asking!

The only benefit to leaving Gates in is that Obama can use him as a shield against partisan attacks about a potential elevated withdrawal.

[FrenchieCat]

23. You should have left a little linky......

Between 1972 and 1977, Danzig taught contract law at Stanford and Harvard Universities. He also was awarded a Prize Fellowship of the Harvard Society of Fellows, and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. From 1977 to 1981, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, first as a Deputy Assistant Secretary and then as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics. In 1981, he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award.

From 1981 to 1993, Danzig was a Washington, D.C. partner of the national law firm of Latham & Watkins. He served as Deputy Chair of the firm's International Practice Group, and also as Director of its Japan Group. He was also a Director of the National Semiconductor Corporation, a Trustee of Reed College, and interim Director of Litigation and then Vice Chairman of the International Human Rights Law Group. During this time, Mr. Danzig was co-author, with the distinguished policy analyst Peter Szanton, of the book, National Service: What Would It Mean?

A decade before, Szanton had been head of the New York office of the Rand Corporation when Danzig came to that office as a law student. The book which Danzig and Szanton co-authored helped shape America's current civilian National Service system.

Danzig was sworn in as the 71st Secretary of the Navy on November 16, 1998. He served as Under Secretary of the Navy between November 1993 and May 1997. In the period between these two jobs, he and his wife, Andrea, lived in Asia and Europe while Danzig served as a Traveling Fellow of the Center for International Political Economy and as an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Richard Danzig has two adult children, David and Lisa. He is currently a defense policy advisor to President-Elect Barack Obama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Danzig

[DCBob]

24. This is fine. Gates is not a warmonger and

I am sure he will cooperate with Obama.

[IndianaGreen]

26. Is Obama going to allow Gates to keep his neocon deputy Gordon England?

England has said publicly that labor unions are like nazis. Do we want this fascist pig as Number 2 at the Pentagon?

[Thrill]

27. Gates doesn't run shit. He like others do what the President says

He's done a good job since taking order. And he will push and support Obama's agenda.

I value Jack Reed's opinion on this more than others. Reed voted against the Iraq war. But said it would be smart for Obama to keep Gates.

[cooolandrew]

28. It's a sensible move to give a smoother transition.

[theboss]

29. Defense was a disaster under Rumsfeld; Gates has settled things down

I can see giving him a year until Obama has a real direction with Iraq and Afghanistan and then move a new person in.