Jed Babbin: Bob Gates' Legacy

Jed Babbinserved as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies.

In five years as defense secretary, Dr. Robert Gates transformed the American military and put it on a course that will limit its ability to defend us for decades to come.

Gates' term as defense secretary began under President Bush and ended after more than two years of Barack Obama's presidency. Of Gates' "accomplishments," three stand out, each of them a significant part of Obama's agenda.

First is the sociological experimentation that he and Obama have imposed on the military. Second is the path of weakness and withdrawal from the global war against Islamic terrorism. Third is the diminution of our armed services' ability to develop and use conventional forces, investing only in forces intended to fight "unconventional" wars.

Gates is the only defense secretary in history chosen by a new president to remain in office from one administration to another. But why? Obama was elected to be the "un-Bush" and had campaigned against almost everything Bush had done since 9/11.

For a defense secretary to serve both Bush and the "un-Bush" - with apparent dedication to both - required Gates' strongest characteristic: malleability...