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WASHINGTON - Robert Gates, President George W. Bush's new nominee as United States Defence Secretary, is no stranger to controversy on Capitol Hill. His last nomination, for CIA chief in 1991, produced a gruelling though successful confirmation battle.
But some who voted against him before said they were now willing to consider his qualifications to replace Donald Rumsfeld.
"I think it had to do, in part, with his recollection, or failure of recollection, on Iran-Contra," said Democrat Senator Carl Levin of the Armed Services Committee, which is expected to consider the nomination soon. "I'm going to give it a fair and fresh look."
Democrat Senator Joe Biden, who also opposed Gates in 1991, said he had done so to make a point about how the Reagan Administration had "politicised" intelligence. Biden said "this is a different job" and he was inclined to support Gates this time, partly because it was important to "move on pretty quickly" on the Iraq problem.
A veteran Cold War warrior who has a doctorate in Soviet history, Gates has been involved in bipartisan discussions on Iraq as a member of the Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James Baker.
Gates, 63, who directed the CIA from 1991 to 93, was first nominated as CIA director in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan but withdrew amid questions over his and the CIA's role in the secret sales of arms to Iran and the diversion of profits to Nicaragua's Contra rebels. In Senate hearings in 1991, when Gates was renominated as CIA chief by Bush's father, he admitted mistakes and said he should have done more to get at the truth.
"He strikes me as a pragmatist, somebody who will listen to the uniformed services. I suspect in that way he will be a very pleasant change from Secretary Rumsfeld," said Democrat Senator Jack Reed, a West Point graduate and Armed Services panel member. Senator John Warner, Republican chairman of the Armed Services panel, said Bush had made a wise choice.
- REUTERS
