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Gates's Remarks at Swearing-In Ceremony    [

    Gates: Iraq Failure Would Be "Calamity"
    By Robert Burns
    The Associated Press

    Monday 18 December 2006

    Washington - Robert Gates assumed the helm at the Pentagon on Monday, warning in his first public remarks as defense secretary that failure in Iraq would be a "calamity" that would haunt the United States for years.

    The former CIA chief pledged to give President Bush his honest advice on the costly and unpopular war, and said he would go to Iraq soon to see what U.S. commanders believe should be done to quell the growing violence.

    "All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again," Gates, 63, said after taking the oath of office as defense secretary from Vice President Dick Cheney at a Pentagon ceremony. "But as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East. Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come."

    He takes office as Bush conducts a wide-ranging review of his approach to the 3 1/2 year-old Iraq conflict. The fighting, teetering on the edge of a civil war between sects, has seen more than 2,940 Americans die at a cost to U.S. taxpayers exceeding $300 billion.

    Officials say the options Bush is studying run from a short-term buildup of thousands of more troops to a pullback of U.S. combat units so they can focus on training Iraqis and hunting terrorists. Bush said last week that he would wait until January to announce his new strategy, to give Gates a chance to offer advice.

    Gates said he wants to hear the views of U.S. commanders on how to improve the situation, "unvarnished and straight from the shoulder." The remarks seemed to contrast with critics' complaints that the man he replaced, Donald H. Rumsfeld, did not listen enough to the advice of the military's top officers.

    President Bush called Gates "the right man" for the multiple challenges of Iraq and the global war on terrorism.

    "We are a nation at war," Bush said. "And I rely on our secretary of defense to provide me with the best possible advice and to help direct our nation's armed force as they engage the enemies of freedom around the world. Bob Gates is the right man to take on these challenges. He'll be an outstanding leader for our men and women in uniform."

    Gates formally assumed the job earlier Monday in a private swearing-in ceremony at the White House, replacing Donald H. Rumsfeld.

    He took office more than month after President Bush announced he was switching Pentagon chiefs, saying he wanted "fresh perspective" on the widely unpopular and costly war and acknowledging the current approach was not working well enough. Rumsfeld was a chief architect of the war strategy and still defends the decision to invade in March 2003.

    "You have asked for my candor and my honest counsel at this critical moment in our nation's history, and you will get both," Gates said.

    He said that since his Senate confirmation earlier this month he has participated in meetings on Iraq at the White House, received briefings at the Pentagon and held in-depth discussions with the president on ways ahead in Iraq.

    Besides the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gates faces other immediate challenges. One is the Army's proposal that it be allowed to grow by tens of thousands of soldiers, given the strains it is enduring from the two wars. Rumsfeld had resisted increasing the size of the Army or the Marine Corps; Gates' view is unknown.

    It's not yet clear whether Gates intends to immediately shake up the Pentagon by firing generals or replacing senior civilian officials. He has asked Gordon England, the deputy defense secretary, to remain, but some have already announced their departures, including the top intelligence official, Stephen Cambone.

    In his remarks Monday, Gates said he looked forward to working with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the service chiefs and civilian service secretaries.

    Gates, who had been president of Texas A&M University since 2002, completed his tenure over the weekend by attending three commencement ceremonies on the College Station campus.

    At his confirmation hearing, Gates won plaudits for his candor, especially for acknowledging the U.S. was not winning in Iraq. That contrasted with Bush's remark at an Oct. 25 news conference that, "Absolutely, we're winning."

    Gates was a member of the Iraq Study Group that spent nine months assessing the situation in Iraq and produced recommendations that include phasing out most U.S. combat troops by 2008. Gates left the commission when Bush announced that he had been picked to replace Rumsfeld.

    "In my view, all options are on the table, in terms of how we address this problem in Iraq," Gates said at his confirmation hearing.

    Gates, a Kansas native, joined the CIA in 1966. He left in 1974 to join the staff of the National Security Council until 1979, when he returned to the spy agency. He rose to deputy director for intelligence in 1982.

    His 1987 nomination to head the CIA was scuttled when he was accused of knowing more than he admitted about the Iran-Contra affair. The Reagan administration secretly had sold arms to Iran in hopes of freeing hostages in Lebanon, and used the money to help the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

    Gates went to the White House as President Reagan's deputy national security adviser in 1989, then took over the CIA in 1991. He left Washington in 1993 and since August 2002 has been president of Texas A&M University.

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    Gates's Remarks at Swearing-In Ceremony
    The Associated Press

    Monday 18 December 2006

Text of Robert M. Gates's remarks Monday after taking the oath of office as defense secretary.

    Gates: Thank you.

    Mr. President, I am deeply honored by the trust you have placed in me. You have asked for my candor and my honest counsel at this critical moment in our nation's history, and you will get both.

    Mr. Vice President, thank you for administering the oath of office. I first worked closely with the vice president when he was a very successful secretary of defense, and I hope some of that may rub off.

    My sincere thanks to the members of the United States Congress who are here today. I appreciate the prompt and fair hearing that I received in the Senate and the confidence that senators have placed in me.

    Chairman Pace, thank you. I look forward to working with you and the joint staff.

    To the service chiefs and service staffs, to all the uniformed military here today, I value your professionalism and your experience. And I will rely on your clear-eyed advice in weeks and months ahead.

    Finally I want to thank Becky, my wife of 40 years, and my children, Eleanor and Brad, for their infinite patience.

    I want to thank other family and friends who are here, but single out one especially, my 93-year-old mother. She told me that if she can make it from Kansas to Texas A&M football games every fall, she certainly could be in Washington for this ceremony.

    I, too, want to say a few words about my predecessor. Donald Rumsfeld has devoted decades of his life to public service. He cares deeply about our men and women in uniform and the future of our country. I thank him for his long and distinguished service, and wish him and Joyce and their family all the best.

    It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with the people in this department, dedicate professionals whose overriding priority is the defense of our nation.

    Long ago, I learned something about leading large institutions: Leaders come and go, but the professionals endure long after the appointees are gone.

    The key to successful leadership, in my view, is to involve in the decision-making process early and often those who ultimately must carry out the decisions. I will do my best to do just that.

    This department as always, is carrying on many different activities all at the same tile. All are valuable, all are important.

    However, as I said in my confirmation hearings, Iraq is at the top of the list. In the days since the Senate confirmed me, I have participated in most of the National Security Council meetings on Iraq, I have received a number of briefings here at the Department of Defense, and I discussed the situation and way forward in Iraq in depth with the president.

    I intend to travel quite soon to Iraq and meet with our military leaders and other personnel there. I look forward to hearing their honest assessments of the situation on the ground and to having the benefit of their advice, unvarnished and straight from the shoulder, on how to proceed in the weeks and months ahead.

    Another pressing concern is Afghanistan. The progress made by the Afghan people over the past five years is at risk. The United States and its NATO allies have made a commitment to the Afghan people and we intend to keep it.

    Afghanistan cannot be allowed to become a sanctuary for extremists again.

    How we face these and other challenges in the region over the next two years will determine whether Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations at a crossroads will pursue paths of gradual progress toward sustainable governments which are allies in the global war on terrorism, or whether the forces of extremism and chaos will become ascendant.

    All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again. But, as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East.

    Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility and endanger Americans for decades to come.

    Finally, there is the matter of what is referred to as defense transformation. As I mentioned in my Senate testimony, I was impressed by how deployable our military has become since I last served in government.

    Before he came to office, the president said that one of his top priorities was to help our military become more agile, more lethal, and more expeditionary. Much has been accomplished in this. Much remains to be done. This remains a necessity and a priority.

    I return to public service in the hope that I can make a difference at a time when our nation is facing daunting challenges and difficult choices.

    Mr. President, I thank you again for the opportunity to do that.

    And thank all of you for being here.