MEDIA REACTION - THE NEW CHIEF OF THE PENTAGON

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 002400 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - THE NEW CHIEF OF THE PENTAGON On November 17, government-owned, editorially independent "La Nacion" (circ. 4,200) carried a column by defense journalist Raul Sohr, entitled, "The New Chief of the Pentagon." "Will U.S. defense policy change much under (Robert) Gates....? The new Defense Secretary served 26 years in the U.S. espionage agency...and has been accused of being closed-minded and ignoring the professional reports of his staff...and of forming a team that did not anticipate the fall of the USSR.... In the propaganda realm...Gates launched a press campaign holding the Soviet Union responsible for the attack against Pope John Paul II. The CIA knew this was untrue, yet went ahead to harm Moscow. In the mid-80's...Gates...advised the USG on what it should do in Nicaragua: 'Everything short of an invasion'.... Among his methods was the mining of Nicaraguan ports.... Gates said there was 'no hope' that the Sandinista government would become more pluralist.... History proved him wrong.... Gates, as Rumsfeld,...is accustomed to using force and dirty tricks to help his country...and to creating new realities to sustain the views Washington wants to impose.... If his past experience is any sign of what his future conduct will be, we must not expect major changes." KELLY