A "Political Windsock"

One of the best things that happened in this important week was the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. But before we could even get the needles out of our dolls, President Bush nominated a replacement, Robert Gates.

As you might have expected, Bush has nominated someone cut from the same cloth as his predecessor. Gates has a long history in U.S. intelligence establishment, having served as an assistant to CIA Director William Casey during the entire illegal operation that came to be known as the Iran-Contra scandal.

Gates became known within the agency as someone able to manipulate intelligence findings to serve the policy goals of his political bosses. As such, he rose quickly within the system, becoming the minion entrusted by Casey with the preparation of nearly all of his speeches, briefings and testimony. Speaking on Democracy Now, ex-CIA analyst Melvin Goodman called Gates a "political windsock," always dutifully pointing in the direction of the strongest political winds at the CIA.

Ronald Reagan nominated Gates to head the CIA in 1987, but the public opposition was so strong that the administration had to withdraw the nomination. Gates did become CIA Director in 1991, but an unprededented 31 Senators voted against the nomination when it came to the Senate floor.

Now, as president of Texas A&M University (go Aggies!), Gates has served on the famous bipartisan commission reviewing the Bush policy in Iraq. Clearly, he comes to the Pentagon with instructions to carry out some of the course corrections recommended by that commission.

But is this the time for a political windsock at the Pentagon? The country desperately needs real intelligence leading to a new Iraq policy, rather than a Defense Secretary schooled in intelligence as political spin. Unfortunately, it looks as though the lame ducks will limp through the confirmation process and give Gates the big chair at the Pentagon before the year ends. If so, it won't take a lot to know which way the wind is blowing in Washington.