Pentagon's Gates mild-mannered but no soft touch

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates' mild-mannered public persona could hardly be more different from his outspoken predecessor Donald Rumsfeld but his early decisions indicate he is no soft touch.

"One of my favorite quotes is from Frederick the Great," he said on a seven-nation trip including stops in Afghanistan and Iraq that wrapped up on the weekend. "Negotiations without arms are like notes without instruments."

In his first month in the job, he has approved an increase in the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, backed a new Iraq plan that involves more than 21,000 extra troops and indicated he favors more forces for Afghanistan too.

Those moves suggest more than just a change in style from Rumsfeld to Gates, a former CIA chief called out of academia by President George W. Bush to run two struggling military campaigns crucial to U.S. national security and credibility.

Although Rumsfeld was a strong proponent of projecting military might, he argued that a lighter presence in countries such as Iraq prevented local forces from becoming too dependent on U.S. troops and undercut accusations of neo-colonialism.

Gates has also approved the deployment of a second aircraft carrier and Patriot missiles to the Gulf region -- moves widely seen as a warning to Iran.

Yet the white-haired former university president has undertaken all those changes while giving the impression of an affable newcomer still learning the ropes.

"To the extent that this is a fact-finding trip, I've found at least one fact," said Gates, 63, near the end of a trip that featured 13 plane flights and a helicopter ride over snowy mountains to a remote outpost of eastern Afghanistan. "I'm too old to do seven countries in 5-1/2 days."

COMMANDERS' ADVICE

Repeatedly on the trip, which also took him to London, NATO headquarters in Brussels, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, Gates deflected questions by saying he had not been in the job long enough to answer them.

He has presented his decisions simply as the result of advice from military commanders and other experts.

"If the people who are leading the struggle out here believe that there is a need for some additional help to sustain the success that we've had, I'm going to be very sympathetic to that kind of a request," he said in Afghanistan.

That can also be seen as a change from Rumsfeld, often accused of ignoring the advice of his commanders, although his supporters have denied that charge and suggested it was a convenient way for military chiefs to avoid blame.

Gates's friendly, low-key public style has also won him a honeymoon with reporters and members of the U.S. Congress, both of whom had a prickly relationship with Rumsfeld.

That could soon change, however, above all if the new plan to stabilize Iraq is not successful. In an unpopular war that has already killed more than 3,000 U.S. troops, his decision to increase force levels is a high-stakes gamble.

"Sure, there's a risk," Gates said. But he added, "I think if you put your personal interests -- including protecting your reputation -- ahead of a sense of duty, you've got your values screwed up."