Gates to Replace Rumsfeld at Pentagon as Iraq Continues to Burn

Interview with Mel Goodman, former CIA analyst and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, conducted by Scott Harris

With the Nov. 7 congressional election serving as a referendum on President Bush's failed policies on the Iraq war, the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld the day after a sweeping Democratic party victory was not surprising. As Rumsfeld left the scene, president Bush nominated former CIA director Robert Gates as his successor.

Gates, who was forced to withdraw his nomination for CIA director in 1987 -- due to his ties to the Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal -- came back to narrowly win the post in 1991 serving under President Bush's father. During his career at the National Security Council and CIA, Gates has been accused of politicizing intelligence on the Soviet Union and in other areas critical to formulating U.S. foreign policy. Gate's checkered history is of concern to many observers in that the Iraq War was justified by flawed and manipulated intelligence with regard to non-existent weapons of mass destruction and the dubious threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

With the violence in Iraq continuing to surge in what many are now openly labeling a civil war, President Bush is awaiting advice from his father's secretary of state, James Baker, who heads the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which is making recommendations on changing U.S. policy on the war. Robert Gates was a member of the Study Group until his nomination. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Mel Goodman a former CIA analyst, who is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Goodman comments on the nomination of Robert Gates for secretary of defense and why he advocates withdrawal from Iraq.

Contact the Center for International Policy by calling (202) 232-3317 or visit their website at:www.ciponline.org

Goodman's book, "Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neo-Conservatives are Putting the World at Risk," is published by Prometheus

Related links:

Center for International Policy at www.ciponline.org/nationalsecurity Middle East Report at www.merip.org

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