WASHINGTON, Dec 6: Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to be US defence secretary, headed to the full Senate on Wednesday for approval, a day after it sailed through the Armed Services Committee.

Mr Gates was confirmed unanimously – 24-0 -- by the committee on Tuesday.

The full Senate could vote later on Wednesday, but senators may not have an opportunity to vote until Thursday, depending on how many lawmakers want floor time to speak on the nomination. By Wednesday afternoon, no significant opposition to Mr Gates' nomination had surfaced in the full session either. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Mr Gates would be confirmed unless something "untoward" turns up during the hearings. President Bush nominated the 63-year old Mr Gates, who heads Texas A&M University, on Nov 8 to replace outgoing Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

When asked by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, incoming chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, if he thought the United States was winning the war, Mr Gates replied, "No, sir."

Later, he clarified his remark, saying the United States wasn't losing either and that his comment pertained to Iraq as a whole, not just as a military endeavour. "Our military forces win the battles that they fight. Our soldiers have done an incredible job in Iraq, and I'm not aware of a single battle that they have lost," he said.

Mr Gates, who served in the administration of the first President Bush as CIA director and deputy national security adviser, gave no timeline for ending the conflict in Iraq.

But he repeatedly referenced "the next year or two" when discussing US options. "Our course over the next year or two will determine whether the American and Iraqi people and the next president of the United States will face a slowly but steadily improving situation in Iraq and in the region or will face the very real risk and possible reality of a regional conflagration," he said.

Developments in Iraq during that time will "greatly influence global geopolitics for many years to come," he said. Also affecting regional stability, Mr Gates said, is how the United States handles its acrimonious relationships with Iran and Syria.

Although lawmakers are predicting a swift confirmation, Mr Gates is not without controversy. Questions have been raised about his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal and his role in he US government’s arming of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. He was also accused of skewing intelligence to suit the Reagan administration’s anti-Soviet views.

Newly declassified government documents also reveal that Mr Gates advocated for President Reagan to bomb Nicaragua in 1984 to topple the Sandinista government. At the time Mr Gates was deputy director of the CIA.