Gates as Defense Secretary

Defence Secretary Robert Gates is a hold over from the bush era, and this week Obama put out news that he would be keeping Gates on staff for at least another year. Obama after winning the 2008 election asked to keep Gates to keep some Republicans in office and he will be in place to manage the expansion of the Afghanistan war through the summer and to look forward to the planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011. So by keeping Gates it ensures a better diplomacy instead of throwing in a new guy amongst the end of a battle. if you have a winning hand why change it? Too bad for Gates though... under Bush he had a countdown calender counting down the days of his retirement. So now he has to tack on another 365 days.