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WASHINGTON - The US Senate today overwhelmingly confirmed Robert Gates as the next defence secretary, replacing Donald Rumsfeld.
The Senate voted to approve President George W Bush's nominee only 24 hours after Gates won the unanimous endorsement of the Armed Services Committee -- and just as a long-awaited bipartisan report arrived, urging more diplomacy and fewer US troops in Iraq.
Senators from both parties praised the ex-CIA chief's candour; Gates had bluntly told them the United States was not winning the war in Iraq.
"Dr Gates spoke with candour -- a candour that has been sorely missing from the Department of Defence under this administration," said Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat. "He recognised the high price that our troops are paying for the current policy."
But senators also emphasised the daunting task before Gates in addressing Iraq, and their awareness that he must work with Bush.
"Dr Gates is poised to take an extraordinarily difficult job at one of the most dangerous times in American history," Sen Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said.
"We see the possibilities of a new chapter ... but it is up to the commander in chief to structure a change in policy," added Sen Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican.
Gates must be sworn in before taking up his duties at the Pentagon, where he says Iraq will be his first priority; he plans to travel to Baghdad soon, where he hopes to talk to US commanders.
Bush nominated Gates, a former CIA director during the administration of the president's father, a day after voters swept Republicans out of power in an election driven in large part by frustration over the Iraq war.
In the more than three years since the US-led invasion, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 2900 Americans and at least tens of thousands of Iraqis.
Bush has said he will consider alternatives, including those offered on Wednesday by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. Gates said he believed all options were on the table.
- REUTERS
