Gates, What do you think?

[QueenOfCalifornia]

he served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001. That says a lot right there... the George Bush School of Government... WTF??? what do you have to do to flunk? :wtf:

then of course there is Iran-Contra, the CIA, GHW Bush and running that steaming pile of shit occupation in Iraq for the last couple years...

[Lost-in-FL]

1. The republicans broke it... they need to fix it.

Besides, any republican with a Bush countdown is my friend.

[Pyrzqxgl]

2. I can't understand why ex nato General Clark wasn't considered.

[Milo_Bloom]

3. He isn't currently eligible

Hasn't been retired for 10 years.

[Alexander]

12. He will be eligible in 2010, the same time Gates leaves.

I think the Gates appointment was just to keep the seat warm for Clark.

[EFerrari]

4. Gates is an Iran Contra criminal but I see the tactical value of keeping him for a while. n/t

[Shiver]

7. It's been said that he's only being kept on for about a year, until 2010

At which time Wesley Clark will be eligible, I believe.

[onehandle]

5. Other. Gates is a placeholder as Iraq winds down by order of the incoming President.

Who makes the decisions, by the way.

Clark will be in that spot in 2010.

Regardless, we will not leave Iraq for decades. But the war will end under Obama.

[PM7nj]

6. Other. I don't care.

Does that make me a bad person? A bird liberal? Oh well. Can't get worked up over it.

[SidneyCarton]

8. me too...

some things just don't matter that much. Could be worse than Gates, and I don't think he's going to be there for the next 4 years, so NBD.

[Phoonzang]

10. I agree with this statement. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. The God of Peace.

Thank God Obama nominated him, and to hell with the haters who can't get over the Bush administration.

[alwysdrunk]

11. Keep him. The war needs to end ASAP

The guy running the war for the past 2 years is the best guy to end it in the next 16 months. Transitioning to a new Defense Chief will only slow down the process.

[Alexander]

13. Other. Gates is a placeholder for Clark, who will be eligible in 2010.

That's precisely the time Gates will leave.

Coincidence? I think not.

[TheDonkey]

14. I do not have confidence in Gates.

[Cleita]

15. According to the news, he agreed to start working with

General Petraeus to pull the troops out of Iraq before Obama appointed him. I get the impression it's because of General Petraeus that he was kept on and until Petraeus is replaced, Obama needs a Secretary of Defense that Petraeus trusts to end these wars.

[Radical Activist]

16. No, that doesn't say a lot.

If you don't like Gates at least find a valid criticism that means something. Several schools are named after former Presidents associated with them. That doesn't mean everyone who teaches there holds the same views as that President. I'm sure there are conservatives at the LBJ school of government at U of Texas. This is a pretty weak argument if you're looking to criticize Gates.

[ieoeja]

17. Why I support Gates.

He openly advocates for direct (i.e. not through proxies) negotiations with Iran.

He refused GW's request to be the first Secretary of Homeland Security.

At his Senate confirmation hearings he said we were not "winning" the Occupation.

He was on the Iraq Study Group in 2006 before agreeing to manage the Occupation. And the Iraq Study Group concluded we should accelerate our withdrawal from Iraq.

He has been highly critical of the Rumsfeldian efforts in Iraq. I suspect he was a major player in getting Bush to agree to a timetable for withdrawal (the other players being Obama and the Iraqi government).


I support Gates because Gates has been very anti-neocon/neolib.


For the record, the same Independant Counsel who nailed Poindexter, North and Weinberger for Iran-Contra cleared Gates of any wrongdoing.

[Occam Bandage]

18. I think that Gates is a pragmatist, and while I'd like to see him gone,

I also believe that keeping him on and delaying the full-throated transition allows for a smoother withdrawal from Iraq. I think there's no excuse for having him in office come 2010, though.