Gates Faults Obama Over Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Jan. 7, 2014 | JULIAN E. BARNES and PETER NICHOLAS

[MinorityRepublican]

WASHINGTON—Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates compiled a pointed critique of President Barack Obama's oversight of the Afghanistan war in a new memoir that exposes strains within the administration over a vital period for U.S. military strategy.

Mr. Gates writes that the president lost faith in the very war strategy he approved, wanted most to find a way out of combat, soured on his handpicked commander and tried to micromanage Pentagon policy, with White House aides facing off against four-star generals.

[plain talk]

Here is a quote I found interesting
“Obama echoed Gates’s comments in a July 10, 2010, interview for my book “Obama’s Wars.” The president said: “Bob Gates has, I think, served me extraordinarily well. And part of the reason is, you know, I’m not sure if he considers this an insult or a compliment, but he and I actually think a lot alike, in broad terms.””

[FlingWingFlyer]

The U.S. military’s worst enemy is the commie buffoons on Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C. They, their ‘lawyer’ pals and the ‘media’ in this country have killed more U.S. military men and women than all of America’s enemies.

[driftdiver]

I’m torn here, as I have really heard nothing good about gates or his judgement.

I do hope we see more of the supporting cast throwing in the towel.

[ScottinVA]

I trust the words of nobody who served even one microsecond in this regime. Gates should’ve stepped down on that dark, dreary day Obama took power.

[lgjhn23]

“...The U.S. military’s worst enemy is the commie buffoons on Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C. They, their ‘lawyer’ pals and the ‘media’ in this country have killed more U.S. military men and women than all of America’s enemies.....”

Amen Bro. Truer words never spoken. I would encourage any young person today seeking direction in their lives to say AWAY from the military and those already in there to get out before they’re sodomized.
Stay away from big government as well. Make your money the old fashioned way, not stealing it from your fellow citizens.

[Mr Rogers]

Gates was a disgusting, self-serving SecDef. However, he may be right about Obama...

[Mr Rogers]

Here is a quote via NRO:

“Hillary told the president that her opposition to the [2007] surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary. . . . The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367797/gates-hillary-obama-admitted-they-opposed-surge-political-reasons-alec-torres

What dismays me is that someone as high as Gates didn’t know it without being told...

[Mr Rogers]

More:

“Gates offers a glowing appraisal of Clinton, who he says is “smart, idealistic but pragmatic, tough-minded, indefatigable, funny, a very valuable colleague, and a superb representative of the United States all over the world,” but the president comes in for harsher criticism.”

Does anyone REALLY need to know more about Gates’ lack of judgment?

The Washington Compost has a long article with more puke-worthy quotes:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/robert-gates-former-defense-secretary-offers-harsh-critique-of-obamas-leadership-in-duty/2014/01/07/6a6915b2-77cb-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html

[driftdiver]

“What dismays me is that someone as high as Gates didn’t know it without being told..”

He must have been 1 of 3 people in the US that didn’t know.

[driftdiver]

Key quote there; probably intended to support HIllary.

[Doogle]

....he profess his “love” for the troops, but went along with the ODUNGO RoE....
....he writes about Generals saying two hour window to air lift the wounded was good enough, while HE wanted 1 hour.....BS....don’t know a general one who would say a wounded troop could “wait” an extra hour to be evacuated....
we’ve all heard of the “magic hour”

[SkyPilot]

"The first, he says, was Obama’s decision to seek the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays serving in the military. Though Gates says he supported the decision, there had been months and months of debate, with details still to work out. On one day’s notice, Obama informed Gates and Mullen that he would announce his request for a repeal of the law. Obama had “blindsided Admiral Mullen and me,” Gates writes. Similarly, in a battle over defense spending, “I was extremely angry with President Obama,” Gates writes. “I felt he had breached faith with me . . . on the budget numbers.” As with “don’t ask, don’t tell,” “I felt that agreements with the Obama White House were good for only as long as they were politically convenient."

Well, well, well. Robert Gates is surprised that Obama gutted the military by over $300 Billion in 2008 to divert to his "stimulus", again by another $487 Billion in 2011, and again by $650 Billion due to Sequestration in 2013? And he was also surprised that Obama (almost certainly a homosexual himself and a notorious member of Chicago's infamous "Down Low" club) fast tracked homosexuality in the military?

Today, we are dealing with the consequences of this sin and tragedy, and Robert Gates is partly to blame. This morning, the DoD announced Millions in new spending for homosexual "spouses" benefits, while the DoD is planning on gutting military TRICARE, and pensions for the disabled and widows have already been cut. Military readiness is in a shambles, and morale is in the toilet.

[EDINVA]

I was conflicted on this, BUT, if not Gates, then whom? It would have been someone very far to the left or someone openly and proudly anti-military.

Sometimes the better part wisdom is to ‘stay in the game’ to ameliorate the damage. Gates probably had to think long and hard before accepting the appointment.

Note that the last 3 Dem-appointed SecDefs have been either Republican (Gates/Hagel) or formerly Republican (Panetta).

[sean327]

Why in the hell didn’t Gates speak up then? He had a duty to do so. He failed. Gates was an idiot just as Rumsfeld was. Gates for not having his Generals backs, Rumsfeld for not listening to his. Good riddance to both, they were asshats.

[headstamp 2]

“I felt that agreements with the Obama White House were good for only as long as they were politically convenient.”

Our allies the world over have found this out the hard way the last 5 years.

[HollyB]

Oh geez, now it all comes together and makes sense. Clinton’s campaign has begun. Thanks for the info

[hinckley buzzard]

Gates is/was a career Washington nonentity. He survived by keeping his head down and never engaging anyone in any contest he might lose. he is the official parallel to David Gergen, the only "consultant" who never had a defined opinion that couldn't be changed in the blink of an eye.

[Gene Eric]

>> but pragmatic, tough-minded, indefatigable, funny,

>> indefatigable

Word ping

[cherokee1]

That’s probly right. I always liked Gates, thot he was competent, and maybe he was staying to look out for his guys as best he could. But he had chances to speak up, take a hard line against the dumbass Kenyan, and he didn’t. That failure is just gutless bureaukrat sliding.

When they give us the stars and bars and the supergrade GS’s a certain amount of fortitude is required. I’m not seeing anything from the book I didn’t already know so I won’t be buying one. It’s too bad that the Kenyan has gotten so many people dirty but there’s room on the farm for all of them to go back to.