WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Thursday recommended Gen. James N. Mattis for command of U.S. forces in the Middle East, North Africa and the Arabian Gulf, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to replace Gen. David Petraeus, who last week assumed command of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
But during his press briefing, Gates devoted the most time to clarifying a July 2 memo outlining rules on military interactions with journalists.
Gates emphasized that he had been drafting the memo before the June 22 publication of a Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal last week led to the general’s forced resignation as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the job Petraeus now holds.
The Department of Defense’s policy toward journalists was “being followed selectively at best,” Gates said, characterizing many in the department as “lax, disorganized and in some cases flat-out sloppy in the way we engage with the press.”
The rules require military officers and Pentagon officials to notify the Defense Department public affairs office before talking to reporters, reasserting civilian oversight of military interactions with the press.
News stories about service members’ treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and problems with military vehicles “have been a spur to action for me,” Gates said. “The kind of reporting you do … is one of the tools I have in trying to lead this department and correct problems.”
Gates tried to assure reporters assembled at the briefing that they would still be able to interview members of the military and that the Department of Defense will continue to disseminate information.
“This is not about you,” Gates said. “This is about us.”
The fact that the memo, itself, was leaked to reporters before he released it was not unnoticed. His reaction? “That it was highly predictable,” Gates said.
Gates also offered details on the Defense Department surveys sent Wednesday to 400,000 service members to elicit troops’ opinion on the potential lifting of the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy regarding homosexual people serving in the military.
“I would say that this survey is a very important element of this effort,” Gates said. “This size sampling is obviously the most significant element of getting the views of the troops.”
Gates said he weighed in on doubling the size of the survey to 200,000 members from the active-duty and reserve components of the military. “I wanted a significant percentage of the force to have an opportunity to offer their views on this,” Gates said.