Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo
Echoes of Rummy? Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ predecessor lobbied fiercely for a shift at the Pentagon to better handle asymmetric warfare. Now he may be getting his wish: Gates’ budget for 2010 reflects a new emphasis on the “irregular warfare already seen in Iraq and Afghanistan,” instead of traditional gears of war like the F-22 fighter jet and C-17 airlifter. The budget—which envisions sweeping spending changes and terminates the beleaguered Lockheed Martin VH-71 helicopter program, among others—reflects the waning conflict in Iraq, as well as an effort to reduce the use of military contractors. (Gates says the Pentagon will hire 13,000 new employees in 2010.) Despite the apparent end of orders of the F-22 jet, stocks of military developers Boeing and Lockheed Martin rose at the news.