Would President Obama Keep Bush's Secretary of Defense?

By Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation. Posted June 29, 2008.

Raising eyebrows over his Iraq approach, a new report suggests Obama could recruit none other than Robert Gates if he becomes commander-in-chief.

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According to insiders, Barack Obama's campaign is debating how long it can leave ambiguous the notion of "residual forces" in Iraq after a presumed Obama-ordered withdrawal of combat troops begins in January 2009. But there are worrying signs, perhaps the ugliest being the rumor that Obama might recruit Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to his campaign. (Yes, that's President Bush's Secretary of Defense.) The Times of London reports this stunner, even quoting Richard Danzig, Obama's top military adviser and a former secretary of the Navy in the Clinton Administration, saying:

"My personal position is Gates is a very good secretary of defense and would be an even better one in an Obama administration."

Adds the paper:

Obama's top foreign policy and national security advisers are pressing the case for keeping Robert Gates at the Pentagon after he won widespread praise for his performance. The move would be in keeping with Obama's desire to appoint a cabinet of all the talents.

Meanwhile, conservatives and cautious centrists in the Democratic party want to soft-pedal Obama's commitment to end the war in Iraq.

Michael O'Hanlon, a Brookings Institution scholar who supported President Bush's so-called surge in January, 2007, is one of those. He told the Moonie-owned Washington Times this week:

"Three or four of his Iraq advisers are hinting of greater flexibility, though speaking for themselves, not for him. That indicates the potential for some change in his previous position or at least some flexibility."

O'Hanlon's role as a Hillary Clinton adviser crashed and burned last year after he emerged as a strong advocate for continuing the war in Iraq, and he's not an Obama adviser.

The Post reports rather ominously today:

Some advisers acknowledge privately that Obama is now emphasizing the need to be "responsible" in handling Iraq -- rather than emphasizing urgency in getting troops out -- to appear more centrist, a substantial adjustment of his original antiwar stance.

But the Post quotes Obama's key foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough saying that Obama is not changing anything. Still, according to insiders, the word "responsible" has been affixed with superglue to Obama's Iraq position by the campaign's more centrist advisers, who are trying to pull the candidate to the right.

The same Post article goes on to note that the Obama-Clinton merger is likely to add somewhat more hawkish advisers to the Obama camp:

There is another factor that could potentially come into play as Obama deepens his Iraq policy: his newfound alliance with Clinton and his move to incorporate her foreign policy advisers into his team. In trying to unite the party, Obama has described his differences with Clinton as negligible.

"If you look at my positions and Senator Clinton's, there's not a lot of difference, which is why it's so easy for advisers, senior advisers of Senator Clinton, to support my candidacy," Obama said at a meeting of his new working group on national security earlier this month.

Not a lot of difference, perhaps -- but enough to make progressives worry. Hopefully, the addition of Madeleine Albright, William Perry, et al. to Obama's "team" is just window dressing, and he will keep those discredited hawks at arm's length. But it's important to note that Robert Gates recently appointed William Perry, Clinton's defense secretary, to the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board.

Obama has announced plans to visit Israel, Jordan and (on a separate trip, or perhaps a still-unannounced part of that trip) Iraq and Afghanistan. What he says on that trip (especially in Iraq) and who he takes with him will be crucial. Hopefully, he won't take Gates with him. Gates, you'll remember, was an early participant in the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group that came up with a plan for Iraq that seems very much like Obama's, and one of Obama's top campaign staffers helped write the ISG report.

See more stories tagged with: iraq, iraq war, robert gates, barack obama, denis mcdonough, madeleine albright, william perry

Robert Dreyfuss is the author of "Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam" (Henry Holt/Metropolitan Books).

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Wow, Obama tracking McCain! Can it be!!! [Report this comment] Posted by: carbon-based on Jun 29, 2008 3:41 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This would make alot of sense.. especially considering how Gates came to the job, as a forced replacement. He has quite a bit of respect from congress as well. If this is true then my views of Obama way back in the beginning when I decided to support him is true. My sense by his statements was that he's not the irrational "get out of Iraq next week" liberal many thought he was. He could just be making noises to get more moderates on board but, who knows, it's a chance moderates/conservatives tired of republicans have to take. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] That's OK with me [Report this comment] Posted by: foreverhope on Jun 29, 2008 11:10 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] With two wars at least some continuity from the administration of one president to the next is smart. I heard someone say to Obama, "there are those who don't believe you will end the Iraq War." Obama replied, "Watch me" and that's exactly what I'm going to do. It's fine with me if he waits until after the election to consult with experts and advisors and generals as to the best way to accomplish that promise. I want it done carefully with a surgical knife not a hacksaw. For now I'm willing to believe and give Obama the benefit of the doubt. Only time will tell us. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] pick your own scraps [Report this comment] Posted by: orionsan on Jun 30, 2008 12:48 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Obama is no fighter. He'll stay in this war way too long, because he won't know when the fight is done. Nothing worse than continuing a fight that some other pre-teen (bush) started. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] SUPPORT THE TROOPS - REMEMBER THAT? [Report this comment] Posted by: VZEQICVA on Jun 30, 2008 8:22 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Gates is not all that bad. I wonder what it's like to be a soldier in Iraq and see so many top people fired and replaced? Can't be good for the morale. If Gates is left in place, with new faces in the White House, it avoids complete upheaval. There has to be some contin- utity for our military to hang on to. Their game plan changes every week as it is. This is not just about the guys who call the shots. Anna [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Of COURSE Gates looks good... [Report this comment] Posted by: lexicon on Jun 30, 2008 11:15 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...after all, ANYONE following an act like Donald Rumsfeld would seem like a genius, in comparison. lexicon [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] jareilly [Report this comment] Posted by: jareilly on Jun 30, 2008 1:18 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Perhaps the Japanese thought it would be "responsible" to remain in Nanking even after the Chinese Communists launched their guerrilla war in the 1930s, you know, with a "responsible" drawdown to fight elsewhere against a "new kind of enemy", the amphibious attacks staged by the US military. Is there a "responsible" way to end an illegal war of aggression? Yes, overthrow the illegitimate government which started the war, arrest, try and punish the perpetrators and re-structure the government to prevent further onslaughts from internal totalitarians. This approach would "responsibly" meet our obligations under the UN Charter and the US Constitution among other applicable law frameworks. Anything short of this in fact, would be criminal complicity. Am I being impractical? Of course, but Obama's "responsible", "centrists" and "moderates" should be looking at where the "center" of US public opinion really is on Iraq. The "center" wants out right away. Only the far right is delusional enough to see a long term favorable outcome for the US in Iraq. Oh and BTW, what about the people we claim to be liberating? Has anyone, including Obama and his "responsible, centrist" supporters, noticed that they don't want the new oil law, they don't want permanent US bases, they don't want US military and contractors with legal immunity and complete strategic independence from the soveriegn government of Iraq? This is BS. Obama is the new Clinton, only he's better at it than Clinton ever was. "Yes we can?" No, maybe, no we can't. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] The Audacity of Disappointment [Report this comment] Posted by: BobS on Jul 1, 2008 3:54 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I've been following Barack Obama since be battled the South Side Chicago political bosses to get himself elected to political office. But the further away he gets away from the South Side, the more disappointing he becomes. Some of this is due the corruption-laden realities of our corporate ruled political system. Any candidate for national office is forced to compromise with corporate power just to get media exposure and campaign dollars. But I was hoping Obama would drive a better deal. That's what's the most disappointing. He's a tough political fighter from a hard-nosed political town. He should have at least bloodied a few corporate noses to show that he's no pushover. I will vote for Obama in November, though with no great enthusiasm. I would rather fight with Barack Obama for the next 4 years than John McCain. Maybe if enough of us stand up to him, he'll decide that fighting the corporate stranglehold over this country is a better alternative. Bob Simpson The BobboSphere [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] My concern about any Repub... [Report this comment] Posted by: bobtr900 on Jul 5, 2008 11:49 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...is that they all are loyal only to the Repub party, and to the seemingly all powerful Bush family, the scourge of our nation. Personally, I would almost never use or keep a Rethug on, were I Obama. And certainly not one like Gates who is so totally connected to the Bush political crime family. The Rethugs have a view point of the world that embodies a 'them or us' attitude. That is why they hook up so well with the religious right who always have this attitude about everyone who does not follow their dogmatic line. Hell, these people are still fighting the Cold War and Vietnam. And they still believe in the long ago discarded and fully dead 'Domino Theory'. Included are people like Cheney, Rumsfeld, McCain and the entire Bush family and probably most of the Rethug party. The only Rethugs I would consider are the State AG's that the Rovian Repubs tried to get rid of for not persecuting and prosecuting Dems who were not guilty of anything but political differences. Do we all remember Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson both of New Mexico. So those AG's like David Iglesias, Lam, Ryan et al. could be considered because their loyalty is to the proper and professional conduct of their jobs. Also another Repub worth considering is Sen. Chuck Hagel who also seems to place his country and decent values above the lack of values of most Repubs. And especially since Hagal said he might retire from politics. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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