WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested in a magazine interview he would retire next year.
"I think sometime in 2011 sounds pretty good," Gates told Foreign Policy magazine. "It would be a mistake to wait until January 2012," he said, because that would force President Barack Obama to fill the defense post in the heat of his re-election campaign.
"I just think this is not the kind of job you want to fill in the spring of a presidential election," Gates said.
Gates, who turns 67 next month, will lead a strategic review on the Afghan war and the decision to begin withdrawing U.S. troops in July 2011. In December, the Pentagon is expected to oversee the move to allow gays to serve openly in the military.
White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters in Wisconsin Gates had agreed to stay in the position longer than he had intended. UPI
