Friday, April 25, 2008

Peters on "Gates's Grand Slam"   [Steve Schippert]

Ralph Peters hits one out of the park in describing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates's Grand Slam. Most Americans with a body temperature over 94° know that Gen. David Petraeus has been nominated for promotion to overall theater command at CENTCOM. About a third of this number are aware that Petraeus's No. 2, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, is succeeding Petraeus at MNF-I command in Baghdad. But many may not be aware of two more important nominations:

That brings us to the third runner across the plate: Gates nominated another combat-tested Iraq vet, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, to take that job in Odierno's place. Chiarelli was a bright star during some of our darkest nights in Iraq. He'll clean up the Army dugout back at Pentagon Field.

Secretary Gates' determination to nominate the most qualified soldiers, rather than yes-men, is stand-up-and-cheer evidence that he's the polar opposite of his failed predecessor, the odious Donald Rumsfeld. But it was the fourth "run" yesterday that really underscored the difference between the two men.

What made the SecDef's performance a grand slam was his heartfelt thank-you to Gen. Odierno's wife and family for their sacrifice as Big Ray heads back to Baghdad - after little more than a spring break.

An Army saying goes, "You enlist the soldier, but you re-enlist the family." Gates gets it: Every soldier's family, whether a junior enlisted man's or a general's, is a vital part of the team.

It's also a great thing to have a SecDef who just tells the truth: Gates noted bluntly yesterday that "Iranians are killing Americans in Iraq."

It's now up to Congress to respond to Gates' request that these nominations be approved by Memorial Day.

Oh yes, there is that. But regardless, while less apt to "lay the wood" to Don Rumsfeld, I am in violent agreement with Ralph that watching these four runs stream across the plate in rapid succession is most definitely a "stand-up-and-cheer" moment.

Why? Because, as he says in conclusion, "the word was already out to our enemies throughout the Middle East: We're determined to win - and we've got the right men to do it, by God."

04/25 12:01 PMShare