President-elect Barack Obama´s apparent
interest in retaining Robert M. Gates as defense
secretary and his appointment of two former
subordinates of one-time CIA chief George J.
Tenet to head the transition team at the Central
Intelligence Agency point to continuity - not
change - in U.S. national security policy.
The leaders of the transition team, John Brennan
and Jami Miscik, implemented and defended the
CIA´s corrupt activities under the Bush
administration. Mr. Brennan, as chief of staff
and deputy executive director under Mr. Tenet,
was involved in decisions involving rendition
and torture.
Both Mr. Brennan, who rose through the agency´s
analytic ranks, and Ms. Miscik, who was Mr.
Tenet´s deputy director for intelligence,
knew that analytic tradecraft was being ignored
and intelligence manipulated in order to support
the Bush administration´s decision to
go to war in Iraq.
The retention of Mr. Gates at the Pentagon for
any length of time would signal Mr. Obama´s
support for policies he has questioned publicly.
Mr. 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 NATO; continued spending
on a national missile defense (the most expensive
weapon in the Pentagon´s inflated budget);
and the abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty. These policies have weakened the international
regime for nonproliferation and the arms-control
process with Russia and should be reversed by
the Obama administration.
Further, Mr. Gates has failed to tackle the
Pentagon´s huge budgetary, personnel and
organizational problems. A recent study by the
Government Accountability Office revealed nearly
$300 billion in cost overruns on the largest
defense acquisition programs, a problem that
Mr. Gates has not addressed.
He 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. The Pentagon has authority to
spend hundreds of millions of dollars for "reconstruction,
stabilization, or security activities in forces
countries. These should be managed by civilian
agencies.
There is no reason for Mr. Obama to extend Mr.
Gates´ tour. There are numerous well-qualified
candidates to replace him. If Mr. Obama genuinely
seeks a bipartisan administration, then outgoing
Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican, an infantry
officer in Vietnam and a man with deep knowledge
of national security affairs, would be an ideal
choice.
Lawrence Korb, who served as an assistant defense
secretary during the eight Reagan years, is
an expert on defense spending and the weapons
acquisition process. Among Democrats, Sen. Jack
Reed of Rhode Island, another Vietnam veteran,
and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia would be
excellent choices.
Richard Danzig has served several administrations
at the Pentagon and, unlike Mr. Gates, shares
Mr. Obama´s priorities for the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. None of these men requires
on-the-job training that would demand retaining
Mr. Gates as defense secretary for any length
of time. Indeed, managing an appointment this
way would be an insult to any qualified candidate
for the job.
Finally, if Mr. Obama is serious about genuine
change in national security policies and domestic
priorities, he will have to address the fundamental
problems at the Pentagon, which include the
Bush era of profligate spending and the militarization
of American diplomacy and the American intelligence
community.
Pentagon personnel in recent years have been
placed in sensitive positions in public diplomacy
and foreign assistance, and active-duty and
retired general officers are manning virtually
all the key positions of the intelligence community,
including the CIA. It is time to enhance the
role of the White House in setting U.S. policy
and to make sure the National Security Council
coordinates the implementation of these policies.
Too much power resides in military hands.
The United States must return to the strategic
agendas of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill
Clinton, who 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 a national missile defense
in order to return to the high moral ground
in the search for disarmament.
These steps never have been part of Mr. Gates´
agenda at the Pentagon, which isolated the United
States from the international community. Mr.
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.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks at the
Pentagon, Friday, Nov. 14, 2008, during a promotion
ceremony to four-star General for Gen. Ann E.
Dunwoody.
Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analyst for
25 years, is senior fellow at the Center for
International Policy and author of "Failure
of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the
CIA."
Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC
