Gates' pick

Haaretz reveals that the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Norton Schwartz, is Jewish. Since the Air Force is known to be a hotbed of fundamentalist Christians who have pressured Jewish and atheist soldiers (and cadets at the Air Force academy), it will be interesting to see if this causes tension in the ranks.

It might be hard to know if that's so, however. Gates is seemingly challenging the Air Force to change, and that is never welcome in the military. One way or the other, Schwartz is bound to be a lightning rod, let's see how long he lasts.