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New head of Pentagon, former CIA
director, to be sworn in
THE
former director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
Robert Gates, assumed his new post as head of the
Pentagon on Monday, December 18, replacing Donald
Rumsfeld, while President George W. Bush ponders a
new strategy for Iraq, EFE reported.
The
appointment of Gates, 63, as secretary of defense
was rapidly confirmed by the Senate.
President Bush accepted Rumsfeld’s resignation one
day after the November mid-term elections, in which
his Republican Party lost control of both houses of
Congress for the first time since 1994.
Gates was to be sworn in first at a private White
House ceremony and then at a public one at the
Pentagon, with the attendance of Bush and
high-ranking military officers.
Along with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the new
head of the Pentagon must attend to other problems
that have been pending during Rumsfeld’s mandate.
One
of these is a proposal by the U.S. Army for Congress
to authorize increased troops, which currently
number 500,000 for that branch of the military, and
178,000 for the Marine Corps.
(Translated by Granma International) |
