Gates' hard decision

Houston Chronicle:

President Bush first called on Robert Gates with a job offer in early 2005. Bush had created the position of director of national intelligence — part of the response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and wanted an old Washington hand with his kind of experience to take it.

After much agonizing and some misgivings about the post's lack of real authority, Gates decided to accept. He prepared e-mail to be sent to the Texas A&M University community, whom he had served as president for three years, explaining that his "wrenching" decision was one he had to make because he might help "make America safer in a dangerous time."

And then, as he later described, came something of an epiphany during a last-minute, late-night walk around campus.

"I realized, sitting there alone in the dark, brushing away tears, how much I had come to love Texas A&M, all it stands for, and all it can become," Gates recalled during his State of the University speech later that year. "And I knew at that moment I could not leave. Washington, D.C., is my past. Texas A&M is my present and my future, at least for a while."

Almost two years later, that while has passed. Bush returned with a better offer, or at least a bigger one. This time Gates did not waver. His love for his adopted school was trumped by the chance to head the Department of Defense during troubled times.

"I had not anticipated returning to government service and have never enjoyed any position more than being president of Texas A&M University," Gates said during a brief news conference in Washington. "However, the United States is at war, in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're fighting against terrorism worldwide. And we face other serious challenges to peace and our security. I believe the outcome of these conflicts will shape our world for decades to come."

...

Gates' previous Washington career spanned almost 27 years, all of it spent in the intelligence domain. He started in 1966 as a fresh-faced college recruit hired by an agency held in dim regard by most college students. He spent six years as a CIA intelligence analyst specializing in the Soviet Union.

Gates obtained his doctorate in history from Georgetown University in 1974 and contemplated a career in academia. But a high regard for his intelligence assessments and a steady rise through the executive ranks through various administrations of both parties kept him in government service.

He was poised to take over the CIA in 1987 when his boss, William Casey, resigned for health reasons. President Reagan nominated him for the position, but the Iran-Contra scandal turned the hearings into political rugby.

...

He has certainly had experience with the bad faith Democrat senators bring to the confirmation process. He can probably expect more of the same this time with Democrats likely being in charge in the senate. Many of those senators want to lose this war and will be looking for a leader at the Pentagon to implement their strategy for defeat in Iraq.

Fred Kaplan also has an interesting take on the Gates nomination.

The Belmont Club's Wretcherd asks where the retreat will lead us.

Austin Bay says:

...

One of the very smart young officers I know suggests the resignation is political prep for prosecuting the war even more vociferously. I think he’s on to something.

...

That last sentence sounds like the line from a current country and western hit I Got a Brand New Girlfriend. While I like the song, I have my doubts about whether the war will be fought more aggressively. As I have said before, Rumsfeld was not the one who formulated the strategy in Iraq. It was Gen. Abizaid, and I do not foresee any changes in his command of Centcom.