Gates criticizes Pentagon’s over-focus on future wars

WASHINGTON – In a pointed admonition to Pentagon planners, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that the U.S. military was afflicted with “next-war-itis” and must concentrate more on winning in Iraq and less on future conflicts that might never happen.

Gates said that since he took office his priority had been to “concentrate the minds” of the defense establishment on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I have noticed too much of a tendency towards what might be called ‘next-war-itis,’ the propensity of much of the defense establishment to be in favor of what might be needed in future conflicts,” Gates said.

While acknowledging hardships on troops and their families, Gates said succeeding in Iraq was vital. “That is the war we are in,” Gates said. “That is the war we must win.”

The speech, delivered in Colorado Springs, Colo., to the conservative Heritage Foundation, escalates his recent criticism of weapons systems and aircraft programs.

Gates dismissed the likelihood of a large-scale conventional war in the future and said the U.S. must prepare for the more likely reality of low-intensity conflicts.

“Smaller, irregular forces – insurgents, guerrillas, terrorists – will find ways, as they always have, to frustrate and neutralize the advantages of larger, regular militaries,” Gates said.

Although Gates acknowledged the need to build up the Navy and modernize the Air Force, he said the Pentagon could expect more scrutiny for conventional weapons systems.

Instead of large, complex weapons systems, Gates called for simpler, more numerous and presumably cheaper designs for new equipment. He also said every new weapons system would have to be useful for fighting irregular wars.

Gates specifically cited the Army’s Future Combat System, a $200 billion program of interlinked armored fighting vehicles, unmanned aircraft and cannons.

He did not offer an explicit opinion on the system, widely known as FCS, but the speech appeared intended to put Army leaders on notice that they would need to justify the expense of the program and its battlefield utility.

“A program like FCS … must continue to demonstrate its value for the types of irregular challenges we will face as well as for full-spectrum warfare,” Gates said.

Gates in recent months has criticized Air Force officials for speaking out about the need to prepare for future threats by building high-tech fighter planes. He also has urged the Air Force to increase the number of unmanned aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.