GATES A SKILLED PLAYER AT I SPY

    Veteran spy Robert Gates, picked by President Bush to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is a natural choice to help fashion a new direction for the war in Iraq.

    First, there is no question about his loyalty. He is a close friend of the Bush family, especially the elder President Bush, for whom he served as CIA director.

    Second, he is a member of the Iraq Study Group, an independent commission set up by Congress to review U.S. policy. The panel is scheduled to issue its recommendations by year's end.

    President Bush also considered Gates for the job of national intelligence director last year.

    Gates, 63, had a remarkable CIA career, becoming the only career officer in the spy agency's history to rise from entry-level employee to director of central intelligence.

    He served from 1966 to 1974, 1979 to 1989 and 1991 to 1993, becoming a specialist on the Soviet Union and serving six presidents. He has a doctorate in Russian studies.