US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is to stay on in charge of the Pentagon when Barack Obama takes office as president, according to US media reports. Mr Gates was nominated to the role by President George W Bush in 2006 and has overseen a change of strategy in Iraq. ABC News and Politico.com quoted officials saying Mr Gates would remain in the job for at least the first year of Mr Obama's administration. Mr Obama will give his third news briefing in as many days on Wednesday. The focus will be the economy, an aide said. In the previous news conferences, Mr Obama - who takes office on 20 January - named the new leaders of his economic team.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is to stay on in charge of the Pentagon when Barack Obama takes office as president, according to US media reports.
Mr Gates was nominated to the role by President George W Bush in 2006 and has overseen a change of strategy in Iraq.
ABC News and Politico.com quoted officials saying Mr Gates would remain in the job for at least the first year of Mr Obama's administration.
Mr Obama will give his third news briefing in as many days on Wednesday.
The focus will be the economy, an aide said. In the previous news conferences, Mr Obama - who takes office on 20 January - named the new leaders of his economic team.
He may have promised change but Barack Obama has chosen to retain Robert GatesIt may have been the economic crisis that delivered the election to Barack Obama but his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq was also a key plank in his campaign - first to be the Democratic nominee, and then for president.So it might therefore be surprising that he has retained the services of a Bush appointee, Robert Gates, as defence secretary. What's more, Gates has publicly disagreed with Obama's commitment to a 16-month timetable for withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq.The Washington Post says the appointment "would probably disappoint some on the left of the Democratic party, who would prefer a clear and sharp break with Bush-era policies".Politico.com agrees "it could lead to criticism from his party's left wing that the lineup is more hawkish and less revolutionary than his supporters expected".
It may have been the economic crisis that delivered the election to Barack Obama but his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq was also a key plank in his campaign - first to be the Democratic nominee, and then for president.
So it might therefore be surprising that he has retained the services of a Bush appointee, Robert Gates, as defence secretary. What's more, Gates has publicly disagreed with Obama's commitment to a 16-month timetable for withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq.
The Washington Post says the appointment "would probably disappoint some on the left of the Democratic party, who would prefer a clear and sharp break with Bush-era policies".
Politico.com agrees "it could lead to criticism from his party's left wing that the lineup is more hawkish and less revolutionary than his supporters expected".
A CIA veteran of the "war on terror" who was being lined up to run the US spy agency, has abruptly withdrawn his name from consideration for the Obama administration. In another development, it emerged that George Bush's Defence Secretary Robert Gates will remain at the Pentagon. The first order he will get from the next commander-in-chief is to arrange an orderly withdrawal form Iraq. John Brennan's role directing the CIA's network of secret "black site" prisons and his support for the "extraordinary rendition" of suspects subsequently tortured in other countries, made him an unacceptable candidate in the eyes of Mr Obama's supporters. Mr Brennan's sudden withdrawal is a rare reversal for the smoothly working Obama transition team. He had already been vetted by Mr Obama's team and was recruiting his own deputies when opposition to his appointment suddenly flared up. After behind-the-scenes pressure, Mr Brennan wrote to President-elect Obama saying he did not want to create a "distraction" for the incoming administration.
A CIA veteran of the "war on terror" who was being lined up to run the US spy agency, has abruptly withdrawn his name from consideration for the Obama administration.
In another development, it emerged that George Bush's Defence Secretary Robert Gates will remain at the Pentagon. The first order he will get from the next commander-in-chief is to arrange an orderly withdrawal form Iraq.
John Brennan's role directing the CIA's network of secret "black site" prisons and his support for the "extraordinary rendition" of suspects subsequently tortured in other countries, made him an unacceptable candidate in the eyes of Mr Obama's supporters.
Mr Brennan's sudden withdrawal is a rare reversal for the smoothly working Obama transition team. He had already been vetted by Mr Obama's team and was recruiting his own deputies when opposition to his appointment suddenly flared up. After behind-the-scenes pressure, Mr Brennan wrote to President-elect Obama saying he did not want to create a "distraction" for the incoming administration.
