I have held Robert Gates to be one of President Obama's better Secretarial appointments. He was a Bush holdover who had done yeoman service under our previous President. He had overseen the successful Surge Strategy in Iraq and he seemed to be a straight shooter when it came to his congressional testimony over the Defense Department's budget appropriations. He often suggested the scrapping of wasteful defense systems that were nothing more than Congressional pork. But over the last week my approbation for Gates is rapidly turning to aversion.Firstly, Gates shaded the facts surrounding Obama's decision to cut the legs out from under Poland and the Czech Republic over our commitment to install a missile defense shield on their territory. Gates's biggest fib was that Iran did not have a credible long-range missile capability. He conveniently overlooked the fact that Iran sent a satellite into space this past winter ... see Iran Space Shot. If Iran can boost a satellite into space, it can surely send an equivalent payload anywhere in the world.
Secondly, Gates is now rationalizing Obama's decision not to decide on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. If General McChrystal says he needs 40,000 more troops, Obama should either supply them or shut down the Afghan mission altogether. Obama's excuse for shushing McChrystal is that he wants to re-think his Afghan strategy (which he claimed he had decided last March). Obama's vacillating on this strategy in Afghanistan, after nine months in office, is, to me, unforgivable. We have service people losing their lives in this country with the potential that these sacrifices might well be in vain.
Step up Mr. Gates ... and encourage your boss to do his job one.
4 comments:
The initial plan that was developed/supported by Gates is now widely seen as archaic - even by Gates. Kudos to him for doing the right thing instead of woodenly sticking with the same ol' thing. Perhaps the guys running the military have better intelligence than can be found with a few google searches. Time will tell.
The Afghan situation is just one more unforgivable Obama crime to add to your long list. Perhaps you have cried 'wolf' to often to get us riled up with this new outrage.
Six months is apparently a long time when it comes to McChrystalizing what to do in Afghanistan. Does this mean that the Administration's next strategy (whenever it may happen) will also have an equally short fuse?
Now, the fact that Obama is firing so many blanks is apparently reflecting badly on me. It seems I can't win (nor can he).
Two bucks Obama will pull the plug in Afghanistan and the Taliban (and AlQaida) will be back in business big time. Bow Wow!
Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about winning in Afghanistan anymore. No foreign power has ever won there; we will not be the first - and for the record, the losing started before Obama got elected.
The USA gave them the means and opportunity to throw off the Taliban yoke. It is up to them now. You cannot expect democracy in a Muslim country. Bring the troops home and with honor.
And let our dead soldiers bury themselves.
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