| Robert M. Gates: named to
replace Rumsfeld, will he help or hurt?
[11-13-06]
President Bush’s post-"thumpin’" dismissal of
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has received lots of attention, and
many people committed to some kind of end of the US war in Iraq have reacted
critically to Bush’s nomination of Robert Gates, former director of the CIA,
as his replacement.
We won’t try to repeat the many arguments for
and against his nomination, but we are happy to offer here a slightly
different perspective. The Rev. Kyle Walker is the Presbyterian campus
minister at Texas A&M University, where Dr. Gates is currently serving as
the president. So he considers the man’s style and apparent values from an
"up close" vantage point. (And following Kyle’s essay, we’ll point you to a
variety of other opinions.)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Walker writes:
Serving as a campus minister at Texas A&M University where Dr. Gates is
president, I would like to speak in cautious favor of his nomination. While
what you have sent to us is true concerning Iran-Contra, Roy, I think that a
look at the whole picture of Bob Gates is important. [The note from Roy
Bossingham is part of a larger conversation in the
e-group
No2Torture, which continues to be a very active on-line gathering based
in the Presbyterian Church.]
When Robert Gates came to Texas A&M, I was very suspicious of a man who
had been head of the CIA and therefore has blood on his hands. We need to be
concerned about the existence of a secret security agency in general and
raise ethical questions about its actions in the past, present and future.
This has certainly included torture which, this e-mail group is designed to
address. Especially important is to know Gates' stance on torture which he
has seemed to elude most press outlets to this point. I will say that he has
supported our ethical dialogues on torture at the George H.W. Bush School of
Public Service here at TAMU and been attentive to our need as an institution
of higher education to raise these questions.
Looking to Gates in general, it is helpful to know what he has done at
Texas A&M, which is has a larger cadet corps than West Point. He has
championed and seen results in the diversification of our campus...a task
that has been left undone for decades. He has implemented a campus wide
inclusion policy for LGBT persons. This is something he also did for the
CIA. He has spoken out unequivocally against all forms of discrimination
that have occurred on campus, including increasing a living wage for
employees here. He has done more than our previous, supposedly progressive,
leadership here.
Do I disagree with his politics? Yes. Do I disagree with those he has
worked for and is about to work for? Yes (except for Carter). The company he
keeps makes me nervous. This is why I cautiously favor his nomination. He is
probably the best nominee we could expect from the Bush administration and
is a VAST improvement from Rumsfeld. On that I will stake my credibility.
As to his experience and ability to deal with Iraq? Well, he has at least
as much as our last two secretaries of defense and I encourage you to take a
look at this
article
from the Houston Chronicle which I found was very well
researched and written about Gates' stance on issues related to Iraq and
foreign policy. I have found his perspectives on these issues surprisingly
refreshing. So I will keep one eye on him at all times but I will give him a
chance to do what he says is important and to be the type of leader in
Washington he has been here.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Chronicle’s article highlights points at which Gates has differed
with Bush policy, for example in calling for "talking with Iran instead of
shunning it." But then he blames the intelligence agencies rather than the
President for insisting that Saddam Hussein possessed "weapons of mass
destruction." And in a 1994 newspaper column, he advocated bombing North
Korea's nuclear reprocessing plant.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The article mentioned by Roy
Bossingham appeared in the Baltimore Sun, written by Melvin A.
Goodman and published under the title
"Wrong Man to
Replace Rumsfeld." He underlines the suspicions of many in Congress,
when Gates was nominated by Ronald Reagan and then by George H. W. Bush in
the 1980s to head the CIA, that Gates had been knowledgeable of if not
involved in the Iran Contra scandal. When he sought Senate confirmation
again in 1991, "key senators were convinced ... that Mr. Gates had a major
role in the politicization of intelligence on the Soviet Union, Central
America and Southwest Asia. During his testimony, Mr. Gates, known for his
outstanding memory, testified 33 times that he did not have any recollection
of the facts of Iran-contra."
~~~~~~~~~~~
As further evidence for his positive take on
Gates, Kyle Walker mentions a recent article that Gates published in the
student newspaper.
Walker explains: "We have had a rash of
incidents against international students in our ‘Northgate’ district which
is both the strip of bars near campus and the international neighborhood.
President Gates wrote this article in the student newspaper,
The Battalion, on Sept 28, to curb the activity."
~~~~~~~~~~~
And one more voice of warning: Ray McGovern
urges ‘No Free Pass to Gates’
Ray McGovern, who was a CIA analyst from the
administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H.W. Bush and now writes
for the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in
Washington, DC, has written
an open letter to
Carl Levin, the likely new Democratic chair of the Armed Services
Committee. He urges Levin not to let Gates’ confirmation slide by too
easily, arguing that his previous record shows he was involved in "the
original ‘October surprise,’ – the unconscionable but successful Republican
effort to prevent the release of the 52 American hostages imprisoned for 14
months in the US embassy in Tehran until Ronald Reagan had won the election
in 1980."
Finally, McGovern argues that Gates, as a past master of the political
manipulation of intelligence, may well perpetuate the misuses of
intelligence that got us where we are today. In the (Mr. Bush, please excuse
the expression) quagmire of Iraq.
~~~~~~~~~~~
So what do you think about Mr. Gates as Sec. of
Defense?
We hope you'll send
your thoughts, to be shared here.
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