Unlike the old one, he doesn't ask and answer his own questions or speak in abstract riddles -- yet, at least. But who is the new Secretary of Defense?

"A hawk," answers The New York Times. Behold, Robert Gates' philosophy:

His favorite quotation from history, he told reporters traveling with him this week for meetings with allies and commanders in Europe and the Middle East, is from Frederick the Great, the 18th century Prussian monarch and gifted musician: “Negotiations without arms are like music books without instruments.”

Or, put another way, it takes military power to create the leverage necessary to make negotiations fruitful.

In application, that means more troops in Iraq, more troops in Afghanistan, and, to make the Iranians come around, more troops and aircraft carriers in the region (until that time, Gates has mused, it's just not worth talking to them).

Here's how that would work in Iraq: the troop buildup is designed as "a source of leverage over the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki" -- the buildup will halt "if Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government does not deliver on promises to send its own troops to Baghdad and not to interfere with operations against Shiite death squads in Baghdad."

But what if it doesn't work? The real test of Gates' influence in the administration -- one that's been fond of tough talk -- "will be whether the United States follows through on this threat if Mr. Maliki does not comply with those promises."

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, like his infamously inconstant predecessor, still won't admit that Iraq is in a state of civil war, but that non-civil war is apparently, one of four ongoing wars in Iraq.

From today's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee:

There are four wars going on in Iraq right now, simultaneously: Shia on Shia conflict in the south; sectarian violence, particularly in Baghdad, but also in Diyala and a couple of other provinces; an insurgency; and Al Qaeda.

We just picked up our copy of Defense secretary nominee Robert Gates' financial disclosure forms. This gent has certainly found ways to keep the money coming in -- Take a look.

Perhaps of greatest interest ot the public, Gates holds a total of between $450,000 and $1 million worth of stock options in companies he advises, including Parker Drilling Company, restaurant group Brinker International, and NACCO Industries.

NACCO has roughly $30 million in Department of Defense contracts, according to FedSpending.org. Conflict? The government's ethics police allowed the last Defense chief, Donald Rumsfeld, to hold on to stock worth up to $25 million in a company, Gilead Sciences; its business with the Pentagon soared after Rumsfeld took over, according to the LATimes. (He cleared $5 million on the deal, the paper found.)

According to its Web site, Parker Drilling, an oil services company, has operations around the world including Kuwait, Russia, Kazakhstan and Colombia. Since 1994, the company has worked with Halliburton on a Chinese offshore drilling effort.

But Gates has a variety of other income streams. From January 2005 to the present, Gates has been paid $752,788 as president of Texas A&M, and earned over $135,000 in deferred pay, according to his filing.

During the same period Gates also earned $143,000 in fees for speaking to private groups, including the National Pest Management Association, numerous investment groups, and the retail giant Target. He made about $15,000 a pop with that gig.

Gates also picked up $788,366 as a director or adviser to companies.

The nominee also has money spread around a vast array of investment funds, including a few he shares with his wife and son.

Keep in mind that for all his wealth, Gates isn't even approaching the wealth amassed by Rumsfeld. According to opensecrets.org, Rumsfeld, worth as much as $199 million, could buy and sell Gates many times over.

This morning, most folks will read the majors' write-ups on Bob Gates, the friend-of-Bush-Senior's whom president Bush is now beckoning into public service to replace departing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The majors' profiles are all kind (sample headline: "Gates Lauded as Breaker of Barriers"), with nods to criticism of Gates, without really delving into why he twice faced heat from Congress. (Hint: Iran-Contra, twisting intelligence.)

To get the real backstory, I'm going to send you to Jeff Stein at Congressional Quarterly. The national security editor there, he put together a profile on Gates by yesterday evening that bests the major dailies for raking muck on the man Bush is hoping will rescue his legacy.

Go read it. The guy has an encyclopedic memory of spies and intelligence flaps built up from covering the classified world for about three decades. So he can report in an afternoon what would take me (and possibly, the majors) several days to find out.