Gates warns failure in Iraq would be a 'calamity'

New US defence secretary Robert Gates says Iraq is his top priority and warned that failure there would be a “calamity” that would haunt the United States for many years.

The former CIA chief pledged to give president George Bush his honest advice on the costly and unpopular war, and said he would go to Iraq soon to see what US commanders believe should be done to quell the growing violence.

“All of us want to find a way to bring America’s sons and daughters home again,” Gates, 63, said yesterday after taking the oath of office as defence secretary from vice president Dick Cheney at a Pentagon ceremony.

“But as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East. Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come.”

He takes office as Bush conducts a wide-ranging review of his approach to the Iraq conflict.

Officials say the options Bush is studying run from a short-term build-up of thousands of more troops to a pullback of US combat units so they can focus on training Iraqis and hunting terrorists. Bush said last week he would wait until January to announce his new strategy, to give Gates a chance to offer advice.

Gates said he wants to hear the views of US commanders on how to improve the situation, “unvarnished and straight from the shoulder".

The remarks seemed to contrast with critics’ complaints that the man he replaced, Donald Rumsfeld, did not listen enough to the advice of the military’s top officers.

Bush called Gates “the right man” for the multiple challenges of Iraq and the global war on terrorism.

“We are a nation at war,” Bush said. “And I rely on our secretary of defence to provide me with the best possible advice and to help direct our nation’s armed force as they engage the enemies of freedom around the world. Bob Gates is the right man to take on these challenges. He’ll be an outstanding leader for our men and women in uniform.”

Gates formally assumed the job earlier yesterday in a private swearing-in ceremony at the White House.

He took office more than month after president Bush announced he was switching Pentagon chiefs, saying he wanted “fresh perspective” on the widely unpopular and costly war and acknowledging the current approach was not working well enough. Rumsfeld was a chief architect of the war strategy and still defends the decision to invade in March 2003.

“You have asked for my candour and my honest counsel at this critical moment in our nation’s history, and you will get both,” Gates said.