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Posted: 1:21 PM- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, unable to fulfill U.S. goals in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during his tenure, is stepping down, President George W. Bush said today.

Bush named former Central Intelligence Agency Director Robert M. Gates as his choice to replace Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Gates was head of the U.S. spy agency under Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush.

"Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed the time is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said at a White House news conference. "I'm deeply grateful for his service to our country."

Rumsfeld, 74, oversaw the global fight against terrorism that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. A casualty of the American public's growing conviction that U.S. policy in Iraq is a dismal failure, Rumsfeld's stewardship of the war is likely to be his foremost legacy.

In yesterday's congressional elections, Democrats took over the House and are within one seat of controlling the Senate in part because of public dissatisfaction with the course of the war in Iraq. The Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, both have called for Rumsfeld's ouster. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona also has said he had no confidence in Rumsfeld.

A brusque and energetic management style, zeal to transform the military and unwillingness to admit mistakes made Rumsfeld one of Bush's most controversial Cabinet members. Criticism began soon after Rumsfeld's appointment in early 2001, much of it stemming from his fight to streamline the Army and Marines and reorganize the Pentagon.

Conflict

His decision to shift focus and troops to Iraq from Afghanistan is increasingly drawing criticism as Taliban insurgents and their al-Qaeda regain strength in the Central Asian nation. At the same time, Iraq has been hit by a surge in sectarian and insurgent violence.

"To our enemies do not be joyful," Bush said. "Our nation is committed to bringing you to justice."

Bush previously has defended the defense secretary and said he wanted him to stay in the job.

Democrats were quick today to call the election a mandate to change the U.S. course in Iraq.

"Nowhere was the call for a new direction more clear from the American people than in the war in Iraq," Pelosi said today. "We know that stay-the-course is not working, has not made our country safer, it has not honored our commitment to our troops and it has not brought stability to the region. We must not continue on this catastrophic path."

The death toll of U.S. military personnel in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion stood at 2,836 as of today, and more than 21,572 have been wounded, according to Pentagon figures.

--- By Richard Keil and Brendan Murray, Bloomberg News