LOS ANGELES, May 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary
of Defense Robert Gates may not be following President George W. Bush's strategy
the president pushes for more time and money for the war, it was reported
Sunday.
Gates' voice has been missing from the war chorus led
by Bush who has mobilized his administration, including his top general in Iraq,
in a major push to win more time and money for his war strategy, the Los Angeles
Times reported.
In fact, Gates' recent comments seem to run counter
to the message from the White House, said the paper.
The paper cited his recent trip to the Middle East,
during which Gates told the Iraqi government that time was running out and
praised Democratic efforts in the U.S. Congress to set a timetable for
withdrawal, saying it would help prod the Iraqis.
But a spokesman for Gates insisted there was no
distance between the defense secretary's thinking on the timetable for Iraq and
views held by the White House or Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S.
troops in Iraq.
But his warnings to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki
are just the latest indications from Gates that he believes the window of
opportunity for the administration to get Iraq right is closing sooner rather
than later, said the paper.
"Any determination by Gates that time is running out
on the current plan could severely complicate the administration's strategy this
summer, a prospect that has begun to worry some backers of the troop 'surge',"
the paper noted.
"I believe Gates is on a completely different page
than President Bush and Gen. Petraeus," a former senior Defense official who has
supported the buildup was quoted as saying. "He wants to see some results by
summer, and if he doesn't see those results, he seems willing to throw the towel
in."
Gates was a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study
Group, which recommended in its report last year that most combat troops
withdraw by early 2008. Gates did not sign the report; he has said that formal
deliberations did not start until after he left for the Pentagon. But several
people who worked on the report said Gates was closely involved in early drafts
and would have supported its eventual conclusions, according to the paper.
Gates' views worry military officials who support the
troop increase, said the paper, quoting one senior military officer as arguing
that rather than talking about time running out, Gates and the Pentagon ought to
be trying to buy more time for the strategy.
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