Robert Gates to retire from defense post next year
Robert Gates has been US Secretary of Defense for over three years. Robert Gates has overseen both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of military operation.
In this Aug. 9 file photo, Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon. Gates says he plans to leave his job next year.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
Washington
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he plans to leave his job next year.
A Republican and holdover from the Bush administration, Gates had agreed to stay on at the request of President Barack Obama. The move was intended to maintain stability at a time of two wars, although Gates has been open about his desire to return to civilian life in his home state of Washington.
In an interview published Monday, Gates told Foreign Policy magazine that leaving in 2011 makes sense. It would give him time to oversee the major offensive under way in Afghanistan but bow out before the 2012 presidential elections.
Gates has been defense secretary since December 2006.