Gates 'appalled' at leaks on Afghanistan, shooting case

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin (AFP) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday angrily denounced leaks of sensitive details to the media about Afghan war deliberations and the probe into last week's army base shooting.

"I have been appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on," Gates told reporters on route to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he was to tour an armored vehicle factory.

Responding to a flurry of media reports about troop numbers in Afghanistan and the killing of 13 people at a Texas military base, the normally reserved Gates said in an unusually feisty tone that it "doesn't serve the country" and was not in the military's interest.

He said the leaks were coming from different government sources but some were coming from his own department, adding that if someone was found leaking from the Pentagon "that would probably be a career ender."

Details of President Barack Obama's deliberations with top commanders about the deployment of as many as 40,000 troops to Afghanistan have regularly appeared in newspapers in recent weeks.

Gates said the administration was now trying to balance the need to show a commitment to Afghanistan at the same time as conveying to the Kabul government that the American presence was not indefinite.

"How do you signal resolve and at the same time signal you are not going to be there forever?" he asked, adding it was a challenge to "get that balance right."

Obama has been presented with a series of options for troop levels and shifting the focus of US efforts in Afghanistan.

Gates said that the administration was looking at combining the best features of several of the options and was nearing the end of that process.

The former CIA chief also said he was also annoyed with leaks in the wake of the shootings last week at Fort Hood, warning that officials could "jeopardize the investigation" into the rampage.

"Everybody ought to shut up" he said.

He landed in Oshkosh on Thursday to tour a factory producing vehicles that can better withstand Afghanistan's rugged terrain and bomb blasts.

To coincide with the trip, Gates said he was setting up a special task force focused on the threat posed by homemade bombs in Afghanistan.

Roadside bombs are the main cause of US and NATO casualties. Gates said he was concerned whether the effort to counter so-called improvised explosive devices was being properly coordinated.