Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 10. november 2006 / Timeline November 10, 2006
Version 3.59. November 2006, 11. November 2006
11/10/2006
National Security Archive Update, November 10, 2006
THE ROBERT GATES FILE
The Iran-Contra Scandal, 1991 Confirmation Hearings and Excerpts
from new book "Safe for Democracy"
Washington, DC, November 10, 2006 - Bush administration nominee for
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates had a long career in
government which showed a notable combination of ambition and
caution, according to a new book by Archive senior analyst John
Prados ["Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA" (Chicago:
Ivan R. Dee, 2006)] which deals with Gates among its much wider
coverage of the agency since its inception.
As Director of Central Intelligence in the immediate aftermath of
the Cold War, Gates faced criticism for moving slowly with
reforming the agency for the new era, and thus missing a moment of
extraordinary opportunity that occurred at that time. In earlier
posts at top levels of the CIA, Gates figured in the Iran-Contra
affair, in which he engaged in sins of omission if not commission,
hesitating to make inquiries and pass warnings that might have
headed off this abuse of power. As the CIA's top manager for
intelligence analysis in the early 1980s he was accused of slanting
intelligence to suit the predilections of the Reagan administration
and his boss, Director William J. Casey.
Excerpts from "Safe for Democracy" related to Mr. Gates were posted
today on the Archive Web site. They are accompanied by the full
three volumes of the extraordinary confirmation hearings of Gates
for CIA Director which took place in 1991, and which at the time
constituted the most detailed examination of U.S. intelligence
practices carried out since the Church and Pike investigations of
the 1970s. Also posted is the portion of the report by Iran-Contra
special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh which concerns Mr. Gates, along
with his response to those findings.
 |
 |