Rumsfeld, Gates Both Having Say on Iraq

President Bush, right, walks out of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, in this Nov. 8, 2006, file photo, with outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld after announcing that former CIA Director Robert Gates was nominated to replace Rumsfeld. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert/FILE) (Gerald Herbert - AP)

WASHINGTON -- To fix the United States' flagging military campaign in Iraq, are two defense secretaries better than one?

President Bush has been meeting with both outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and incoming Secretary Robert Gates as he considers a change in Iraq policy.

Rumsfeld is still in charge until Monday. Though Gates was confirmed for the position last week by the Senate, he doesn't officially take over the job until he's sworn in by Bush that day at the Pentagon.

But with urgent talks on an increasingly violent Iraq under way, Gates is getting a head start on the job.

Gates has a temporary office on the third floor of the huge Defense Department headquarters. He had breakfast with Bush on Tuesday before joining the president in a secure video conference with Rumsfeld, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace and military commanders in Iraq.

He was in the room with Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the president visited the Pentagon Wednesday for the latest in a series of meetings Bush is holding around Washington to talk about Iraq.

One of the reasons Bush postponed an announcement on any policy changes _ he's now shooting for next month instead of next week _ is that he wanted to give Gates time to settle into his new job and help develop the new plan, the president said Wednesday after meeting with top military officials at the Pentagon.

Bush said the day after Republicans lost ground in the Nov. 8 election that he was replacing Rumsfeld to get a "fresh perspective" on Iraq.

Gates got points from the Senate for candidly saying in his confirmation hearings that he did not believe the United States was winning the war in Iraq.

He has said he will travel to the war zone soon after his swearing in.