NR: "...a feat of ongoing stewardship as America is waging two wars."


Length: 1:40

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Michael returns shortly prior to the Obama press conference to introduce the new national security team.


HEIDI COLLINS: Another top position to be announced, Obama's secretary of defense. Robert Gates is expected to stay on and continue his oversight of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. CNN's Michael Ware is in Baghdad now this morning, with the view from there. Hi, Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. Well, if, indeed, President-elect Obama confirms the appointment of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, this will be a reassuring and a savvy move by the incoming administration. Because this will be a feat of ongoing stewardship as America is waging two wars.

Now, there's a number of things that can be said about Secretary Gates and this appointment. Firstly, Secretary Gates is politically non-aligned and he's widely viewed as a moderate who's listening to his generals. He's also very important by his mere presence in the rehabilitation of the relationship between those in uniform and the civilians who command them, a relationship that was badly damaged under this administration.

Also, as a former director of Central Intelligence, Secretary Gates is a bridge between the intelligence community and the Pentagon. And finally, as someone who is overseen the implementation of the so-called surge here on the ground in Iraq, Secretary Gates may be a tempering influence on the Obama administration's urgency to start pulling out troops regardless of what's happening here on the ground -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Michael Ware, coming to us from Baghdad, this morning. We're going to be watching all of these appointments very closely. Thank you, Michael.