Excerpt
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is scheduled to retire at the end of June, held a final news conference Thursday. We asked several military analysts to rank his performance as secretary.
Gates expressed cautious optimism at the Pentagon news conference about the United States' strained relationship with Pakistan, saying, "the long history of the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has had its ebbs and flows," with two wars with India, the Soviets' exit from Afghanistan. But he said that despite a "complicated" relationship, "we need each other, and we need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan. Pakistan is an important player in terms of regional stability and in terms of Central Asia."
"The challenges aren't going to go away, the region isn't going to go away," added Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, saying that if the U.S. "were it to break or were we to walk away, it's a matter of time before the region is that much more dangerous and there would be a huge pull for us to half to return to protect our national interests."
Gates also pointed out that Pakistan is contributing to the strategy in Afghanistan and has troops stationed near the border.
Gates also was asked about Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy and now successor. "I'm not sure it's a position anyone should aspire to, under the circumstances," Gates said, adding that bin laden had a "peculiar charisma" that he believes al-Zawahri lacks.
Nonetheless, al-Qaida is still a dangerous organization that "seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements for those who have been killed, and remains committed to the agenda bin Laden put before them ... it is a reminder that they're still out there and we need to keep after them," Gates said.
Gates urged persistence in Afghanistan. "There has never been a popular war in the United States in our whole history. They've all been controversial." As for whether the war is succeeding, he said he "[tries] to stay away from loaded words like 'winning' or 'losing'" but that the military is "successful in implementing the president's strategy" of denying Taliban havens and building up Afghan security forces.
Gates is stepping down as defense secretary on June 30 after having served in the post since December 2006.
Below are just the box-scores. Go to the article for full text explanation.
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