What Gates Told the Armed Services Committee
Power Line
As noted below, a lot of the reporting on Robert Gates's confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee will be misleading or trivial. But if you read the answers Gates supplied in advance to the Committee's questions, there is some interesting information. For example, Gates gives the President's enemies no comfort on the decision to go to war in Iraq (p. 13):
<<< Question: What do you believe to be the major lessons learned from the Iraq invasion and the ongoing effort to stabilize the country?
I agreed with President Bush's decision to go into Iraq. Our men and women in uniform and our coalition partners have served admirably there, and, if confirmed, I look forward to working with them on a daily basis to help make the future better for the Iraqi people.
There is no question that Saddam Hussein's regime was a dangerous and disruptive force in the region. By the late 1990s, it was clear that his dictatorial regime needed to be removed from power. The Oil for Food program was a failure. Saddam's continual defiance of the international community was unacceptable.
In 2002, I supported UN Resolution 1441, which called for immediate and complete disarmament of Iraq's illegal weapons in order to give inspections another chance. Again, Saddam thumbed his nose at the international community. I believed that he possessed WMD or the capacity for building WMD, and that with the collapse of sanctions he would aggressively pursue an effort to increase his WMD capability.
I believe that leaving Iraq in chaos would have dangerous consequences both in the region and globally for many years to come. >>>
Gates's comments on China were sobering (p. 16):
<<< Question: What do you believe are China's political-military objectives regarding Taiwan, the Asia-Pacific region, and globally?
I believe China seeks to integrate Taiwan peacefully if possible. That is their policy but their capabilities suggest they are prepared to consider the use of force if peaceful efforts fail.
Beyond Taiwan, China aspires to be the pre-eminent power in Asia. Beijing is expanding its political and economic influence in the region and generating options for military coercion.
Question: What do you believe are the objectives of China's military modernization program (including its nuclear weapons program)?
China is also strengthening its deterrent posture through modernization of its strategic forces. Its "no first use" policy appears intact, but the shift to survivable, mobile nuclear forces gives China's leaders new options for coercion or first use in crises. >>>
I hope the Senators found some time to talk about the challenges posed by China.
It appears to me that China is building capabilities to fight short duration, high-intensity conflict on its periphery. Its near-term focus is on generating sufficient combat power to rapidly erode Taiwan's will to resist and to deter or deny effective intervention in a crossStrait conflict.
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