Defense: "Gates Plays Down Russia, China Threats," by David Morgan, Reuters, 18 March 2009
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates never ceases to amaze me with his pragmatic approach to being the defense chief. I have always thought this, but reading the above short Reuters piece just drove the point home. Since taking over the SecDef position in 2006 he is widely credited with salvaging a flawed battle plan for Iraq. With the ship somewhat righted in Iraq, it appears his focus is turning to more of a traditional defense chief role: Exerting control over the sprawling bureaucracy that is the DoD.
Granted, there are still significant challenges in Iraq, and tremendous challenges upcoming in Afghanistan, but Gates seems to be prepping for a monumental battle with defense contractors. For the past several months he's been preaching the need to prepare for the battles we are fighting today, which he seems to think will be the long term battles as well.
In this article he continues this theme by addressing the supposed China threat, and a resurgent Russia. Read some of his thoughts below:
"A day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia would rearm its military and boost its nuclear forces, the U.S. defense chief said Moscow is actually moving to reduce the size of its traditional military force."
"As I read between the lines, the first message that he was giving to the Russian military was: 'Don't expect any new equipment for two years."
"Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing he also does not believe aggressive Chinese behavior against U.S. Navy surveillance vessels in the South China Sea suggests Beijing wants to force the U.S. Pacific fleet from the region."
To me, Gates' rationale on China and Russia makes sense. However, folks that have "near peer" weapons systems potentially on the chopping block are not going to agree that Gates is being very pragmatic.
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