Posted on 11/16/2014 7:59:19 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Leon Panetta and Robert Gates, two former directors of the CIA and Defence Department, on Saturday criticised President Barack Obama's micromanagement of the military.
“For the past 25 to 30 years, there has been a centralisation of power in the White House,” Panetta said during a panel discussion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. “Because of that centralisation of authority at the White House, there are too few voices that are being heard.”
Without naming the Obama administration, Panetta said that by the time you get to the White House, the staff has already decided what should be done. Panetta served the Obama administration as head of the Central Intelligence Agency between 2009 and 2011, and Defence Department chief between 2011 and 2013.
Robert Gates, director of the CIA under former president George HW Bush and secretary of defence under George W Bush and Obama from 2006 to 2011, directly criticised Obama's White House. He said that there was a long history of disagreement between the president and military advisers but that micromanagement of the military sets the Obama administration apart.
“My concern in terms of this relationship of the White House and the military is not on the big issues,” Gates told an audience at the presidential foundation in Simi Valley, California. “It's in the increasing desire of the White House to control and manage every aspect of military affairs.”
He compared the Obama administration to that of Lyndon Johnson, who personally chose military targets in the Vietnam war. “It was the micromanagement that drove me crazy,” Gates said. The former defence chief said that Obama's administration stands in contrast to both Bush administrations, where once a decision was made, there was no micromanagement.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytimes.com.pk ...
So, Leon, was Zero the “guardian of gridlock”?
Barack Obama a ‘dithering, controlling, risk-averse’ US president
The Telegraph | 03/04/2013 | Peter Foster
Posted on 3/4/2013, 9:46:54 PM by Beave Meister
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2993494/posts
The worst type of boss, IMHO, is one who micromanages. Micromanagement is the #1 soul killer for employees.
"Nail that coonskin to the wall."
He's sure doing a bang-up job, getting so many of our guys killed over in Afghanistan under his crappy ROI.
:’) Nice choice of euphemism.
Seems to me I heard of another psychotic leader of a country whose aids and officials complained of the same thing, it was in the early 1940’s as I recall.
/bingo
Of course, give him a break, that was his objective.
Everything he did was too little, too late - long after the horses were out of the barn - and definitely geared towards aiding and abetting the enemy...
and to top it all off - never in the military, knows NOTHING about war/strategy.
Can you even imagine him getting through boot camp? Wouldn't last to see the second day...run home crying.
It sure killed mine a couple of times.
And yet, neither of these officials had the integrity to resign and air their critcisms before the American people in a timely fashion.
My favorite LBJ quote:
"Without superior air power, America is a bound and throttled giant, impotent and easy prey to any yellow dwarf with a pocket knife."
There was more than one of those in the 1940s. In the past I’d read that Stalin finally realized he didn’t know anything about strategy or tactics, and stepped back to let his field generals do their thing. That of course was at best an exaggeration. He leaned on all of them, giving them objectives to meet or else, and Zhukov was not excepted. The commanders referred to the soldiers as “bayonets” or “effectives” (by which was meant, not dead), and they developed vivid hatred of the commanders up the line and the political leaders.
By contrast, Hitler never figured out that he had his head up his ass and constantly took contrary positions and kept operating from an unworkable strategy in his head. He wanted the Kursk salient eliminated, his generals said, fine, if we must, we’ll start as soon as possible. No, we’ll make the start date in the summer. But that will give them time to dig in and establish defenses in depth. Nonsense, I’ll come to the battle and direct it personally. And then just before we start the attack, I’ll shift three divisions to Italy for no good reason. What a lucky break for the allies, in a way.
Fortunately for the rest of us. Micromanagement doesn't work.
He also reportedly pulled his member out during a cabinet meeting and said, “Mao Tse-Tung will never get this!” A real old-timey charm, that’s what he had.
I thought someone said Obama does NOTHING
Elections have consequences.
Panetta would have gone after bin Laden months earlier (and yes, I know there are those who deny that his location was known until just before), and probably had the SEALs shoot both his eyes out, but was held back for reasons which will probably never be clarified.
He tried training with weapons — during his ‘vacation’ in Pakistan when he was young — but he couldn’t grow a beard. :’)
for the Ministry of Truth:
Micromanagement ensures individuality.
Zero tolerance is Freedom.
Liberty is Racism.
Obama to ISIS: “If you like your terror army, you can keep your terror army”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3201677/posts
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