A brain in charge of the brawn

摘要

Exactly two years ago, an excruciating Senate hearing nearly did for Chuck Ha-gel, America's outgoing secretary of defence. Hapless, shaky on his brief and stumbling in his answers, Mr Hagel's performance in front of the Armed Services Committee undermined his authority at the Pentagon from the start, allowing the White House an opportunity to meddle that even it eventually tired of. It was never likely that Ashton ("Ash") Carter's confirmation hearing for the same job on February 4th would be a repeat of that. Many consider him supremely qualified. He has served at every level of civilian leadership at the Pentagon (most recently as its chief operating officer until 14 months ago). When out of office, Mr Carter, a physicist, has been an influential national-security scholar with a particular expertise in nuclear strategy and technology. Although a lifelong Democrat, he enjoys a rare degree of support across the aisle, even from Republican hawks such as John McCain, the committee chairman.