Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates, President Bush's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld, answers questions from members of the Senate Armed Services committee during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday, December 5, 2006. Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the committee, is at left.
Photo: AP
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New US Secretary of Defense Admits to Defeat in Iraq
// Robert Gates Sails Through Senate Confirmation Hearings
In Washington yesterday the Iraq Study Group, which was created by Congress to study the situation in Iraq, submitted a report outlining its conclusions to US President George Bush. Under the bipartisan leadership of former US Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, the team of experts returned the sharpest criticism yet of the Bush administration's activities in Iraq since the beginning of the military operations there. The report's main conclusion is that the continued presence of the United States in Iraq runs counter to US interests. Meanwhile, on the day before the report was submitted, the Senate Armed Services committee confirmation hearings for new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates featured sensational pronouncements testifying to changes in US policy in Iraq.
We Don't Need Such an Iraq
The report by the Baker-Hamilton commission has been awaited with particular impatience in Washington by both members of the White House administration and their opponents. Two circumstances lend special weight to the commission's investigations into Iraq. First of all, an initiative calling for such an investigation was introduced in Congress more than six months ago. Since then, control of Congress has passed into the hands of the Democrats thanks to the November elections. Secondly, in order to avoid any political entanglements, the group was led by two co-chairmen who represented two different political camps: James Baker, a Republican and friend of the Bush family who served as Secretary of State under George Bush senior, and Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic senator who headed the Foreign Affairs committee in the House of Representatives.
Upon arriving at the White House yesterday morning, the members of the Baker-Hamilton commission gave the president the full text of the report that they had spent six months preparing. Besides President Bush, the meeting was attending by Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and National Security Advisor Steven Hadley.
Taking stock of the situation in Iraq, the authors of the report assert that the situation in the country "may descend into chaos that will lead to the overthrow of the government and to a humanitarian catastrophe." "If the situation there continues to deteriorate, neighboring countries may begin to interfere, which would shake the global position of the United States and polarize American society," claims the report.
In the opinion of the authors, the White House must extricate itself from a situation that is increasingly threatening the national interests of the United States by adopting a "new and improved diplomatic strategy." The report recommends that the president consider beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq; enter into direct negotiations with Syria and Iran, which appear to have the most influence over the situation in Iraq; and increase America's efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Significantly, for the first time in recent years the White House did not greet criticism of its actions in Iraq with attempts at self-justification. Instead, the administration made it clear that it will take the commission's conclusions as a guide in further decision-making. "This report gives a very tough assessment of the situation in Iraq. It is a report that brings some really very interesting proposals, and we will take every proposal seriously and we will act in a timely fashion," promised President Bush. The president also urged Congress to take the report seriously.
An Anti-Rumsfeld
Further evidence that the Bush administration has matured to the point of being able to undertake a radical review of its policies in Iraq was the hearing that took place in the Senate Armed Services committee on Tuesday in which Robert Gates won confirmation from the committee as the new Secretary of Defense. Mr. Gates, who was nominated for the position of Pentagon head by President Bush in the wake of Donald Rumsfeld's departure, impressed both Republican and Democratic senators with his answers to a grueling round of ticklish and difficult questions.
Unsurprisingly, most of the questions centered on Iraq. Having finally secured the departure of Donald Rumsfeld, one of the chief ideologues of the war in Iraq, the Democrats were mainly concerned with determining to what degree the new Defense Secretary's views differ from those of his predecessor. The question that set the tone of the discussion came from Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, who will take over leadership of the Armed Services committee in January of next year. "Do you believe that the United States is winning the war in Iraq?" fired Mr. Levin point-blank.
"No, sir," replied Mr. Gates, unruffled by the directness of the question. A whisper ran through the room. Senators who had been waiting for three years to hear such a reply from Donald Rumsfeld could not believe their ears. With his reply, Mr. Gates disavowed not only his predecessor but also President Bush himself, who said as recently as the eve of the congressional elections in early November that the United States is winning the war against terrorism in Iraq.
Mr. Gates' further replies to the questions that rained down upon him finally succeeded in convincing the senators that although Mr. Gates was put forward as a candidate for the post of Defense Secretary by George Bush, he is the administration's version of an "anti-Rumsfeld." At the confirmation hearing, Mr. Gates subjected America's actions in Iraq – in other words, his predecessor's legacy – to sharp and detailed criticism, even allowing himself to say that disbanding the old Iraqi army and Saddam Hussein's Baathist party was a mistake that pushed Iraq deeper into chaos. He dodged the question of whether George Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq was a good idea or not, saying that the issue will have to be taken up by historians. Overall, however, the senators could not fail to be won over by his disarming openness. "It's my impression that frankly there are no new ideas on Iraq," admitted Mr. Gates, adding that the main task now is to “put pieces of those different proposals together in a way that provides a way forward."
An Anti-Cheney
In speaking of Iraq in more detail, Robert Gates managed to include in his responses his own views on how American foreign policy as a whole must change after the November congressional elections. Having criticized the war in Iraq, he easily threw up a bridge to the matter of Iran. “I think that military action against Iran would be an absolute last resort,” Mr. Gates said. “I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable, and I think that the consequences of a conflict, a military conflict, with Iran could be quite dramatic. And therefore, I would counsel against military action, except as a last resort," he added. According to Mr. Gates, a strike at Iran would lead to a sharp increase in support for terrorism in Tehran, which could "potentially close off the Persian Gulf to all exports of oil…and unleash a significant wave of terror – in the Middle East and in Europe and even [in America]." As he reminded the senators, though Iran's options for a retaliatory strike using conventional weapons are severely limited, the country is capable of destabilizing the situation in Lebanon with its support for Hezbollah and of employing terrorism to strike back at the United States in case of an attack.
The new head of the Pentagon holds similar views on Syria. According to Mr. Gates, military operations in Syria "would give rise to significantly greater anti-Americanism than we have seen to date. I think it would immensely complicate our relationships with virtually every country in the region." He thus came out strongly against the doctrine of preemptive military strikes so beloved by both Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Impressed by Mr. Gates' forthrightness and candor, the senators did not hide their satisfaction with the candidate at the conclusion of the discussion. Senator Levin said that he saw that Mr. Gates offers a "fresh approach grounded in realism." Mr. Gates even had a ready answer for the question of the degree to which the president will be willing to listen to his advice. When asked by Evan Bayh, a Democratic senator from Indiana, how he knows that the president will agree with his position, Mr. Gates replied, "because he nominated me for the position."
The Senate Armed Services committee voted unanimously, 24-0, to confirm Mr. Gates' nomination as Secretary of Defense. He was confirmed by the full Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 95-2.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 07, 2006
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