Gates To Leave Pentagon

By fitsnews As America’s war effort in Afghanistan approaches a critical juncture, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is making plans to leave his post.

Gates will retire “by the end of 2011″ according to a magazine article published Monday.

“I think that by next year I’ll be in a position where, you know, we’re going to know whether the strategy is working in Afghanistan,” Gates told Foreign Policy magazine.  “We’ll have completed the surge. We’ll have done the assessment in December, and it seems like somewhere there in 2011 is a logical opportunity to hand off.”

Gates, who replaced Donald Rumsfeld in 2006, was the only Cabinet member from the administration of former President George W. Bush tapped to remain at his post by President Barack Obama.  Along with Gen. Stanley McChrystal – who was essentially relieved of command earlier this year – he was a staunch proponent of the “surge” strategy approved for Afghanistan a year ago.

Under this strategy, U.S. troop levels have increased dramatically – to more than 100,000 soldiers – although with at least 10,000 troops still en route to the battlefield it is way too early to determine if the “surge” has been successful.

Of course with additional deployments, casualties have been on the rise in Afghanistan.  In 2009, 317 U.S. soldiers were killed there – more than twice the number killed in 2008.  Through the first seven-and-a-half months of this year, another 280 U.S. soldiers have been killed.