Robert Gates judges Obama in new book

[bush_cheney2004]

Former U.S. Defense Sec'y Robert Gates dropped the bomb on President Obama in his new book 'Duty':

In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president “doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”

Leveling one of the more serious charges that a defense secretary could make against a commander in chief sending forces into combat, Gates asserts that Obama had more than doubts about the course he had charted in Afghanistan. The president was “skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail,” Gates writes in “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.”

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_print.html

Edited January 20, 2014 by Charles Anthony
edited topic title for accuracy

[Guest Derek L]

History will be the ultimate judge of both Bush and Obama......

Edited January 20, 2014 by Charles Anthony
deleted re-copied Opening Post

[bush_cheney2004]

Sure, but Gates' memoir provides more clarification of the conflicts that the administration was having with senior military staff. All of that Mickey Mouse nonsense that we saw in the press now makes a lot more sense. Senator Hillary Clinton piled on with political aplomb during the 2008 election run. Gates is not without fault himself, but he really wanted to cut open a vein in this book.

[Guest Derek L]

Sure, but Gates' memoir provides more clarification of the conflicts that the administration was having with senior military staff. All of that Mickey Mouse nonsense that we saw in the press now makes a lot more sense. Senator Hillary Clinton piled on with political aplomb during the 2008 election run. Gates is not without fault himself, but he really wanted to cut open a vein in this book.

Certainly, but I’d have had more respect for him if he had of fallen on his sword during said events, not after (a election) when he had a book to sell.

[sharkman]

I heard another report on this memoir as well. He heard Hilary and Obama both admit their positions concerning the Bush surge in Iraq was not based on principle, but on political gain.

But Mr. Gates does say that, in defending her support for the Afghan surge, she confided that her opposition to Mr. Bush’s Iraq surge when she was in the Senate and a presidential candidate “had been political,” since she was facing Mr. Obama, then an antiwar senator, in the Iowa primary. In the same conversation, Mr. Obama “conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political,” Mr. Gates recalls. “To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.”

Edited January 8, 2014 by sharkman

[bush_cheney2004]

Certainly, but I’d have had more respect for him if he had of fallen on his sword during said events, not after (a election) when he had a book to sell.

IMHO, Sec'y Gates' mistake was in staying on after Obama took office. Nothing good could come from that kind of transition.

[bush_cheney2004]

Before the book...the "A Team" in action !

[Guest Derek L]

I heard another report on this memoir as well. He heard Hilary and Obama both admit their positions concerning the Bush surge in Iraq was not based on principlel, but on political gain.

Of course it was......

[Guest Derek L]

IMHO, Sec'y Gates' mistake was in staying on after Obama took office. Nothing good could come from that kind of transition.

I never understood why he did stay and why Obama kept him.

[bush_cheney2004]

I never understood why he did stay and why Obama kept him.

The pros and cons of doing so were presented at the time, so many inconsistencies hoping that some would stick to the wall.

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1861038,00.html

[Guest Derek L]

Before the book...the "A Team" in action !

I think the only redemption that could possibly be had by Gates is if he further aides in poisoning the Billary 2016 wine…..I think the mid-terms this year are a forgone conclusion and is the GOP’s to lose…….

Christie/Rubio 2016?

[bush_cheney2004]

Christie/Rubio 2016?

Better than Bush/Rubio !!

[Guest Derek L]

The pros and cons of doing so were presented at the time, so many inconsistencies hoping that some would stick to the wall.

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1861038,00.html

Again....pure politics.....I guess another "do-over" Obama would like....

[Guest Derek L]

Better than Bush/Rubio !!

I like Jeb........then again, I also liked Perry at first, during the last go around

[bush_cheney2004]

Gates was a Bush #41 guy going way back...and stayed close to that circle even at Texas A&M. Joining up with Obama was bound to lead to heartache and a tell all book.

Juiciest details: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/07/speed-read-juiciest-bits-from-secretary-of-defense-bob-gates-duty.html

Edited January 8, 2014 by bush_cheney2004

[Guest Derek L]

Gates was a Bush #41 guy going way back...and stayed close to that circle even at Texas A&M. Joining up with Obama was bound to lead to heartache and a tell all book.

Indeed……back at the Virginia pickle factory......

[sharkman]

Of course it was......

Yep, it's just nice to hear someone who was in the room and heard them being arrogant enough to admit it.

[Shady]

I like Jeb........then again, I also liked Perry at first, during the last go around

I wouldn't count out Perry completely. During the last primary he was going through serious back problems, that prevented him from sleeping. He never made it an issue, but I'm sure it made it very difficult to campaign properly.

[sharkman]

Just watching Brit Hume's reaction to the situation. He thinks it apparent that since Obama announced the surge in Afghanistan and the draw down(to be a full 18 months later) at almost the same time, Gate's revelation rings true.

Edited January 8, 2014 by sharkman

[waldo]

Gates is just getting his licks in first... stay tuned for the, 'best is yet to come'. It's a shame the beating Bush and Cheney's "legacies" will take over the next "tell all" accounts of the trumped up "War On Terror", particularly when some of the military leaders involved retire and begin to feel the blame targets on their backs.

[bush_cheney2004]

Just watching Brit Hume's reaction to the situation. He thinks it apparent that since Obama announced the surge in Afghanistan and the draw down(to be a full 18 months later) at almost the same time, Gate's revelation rings true.

Lot's of confirmations of Gate's assertions in U.S. media interviews today with insiders. VP Biden comes off as the biggest "Bozo", while President Obama just had plain 'ole disdain and mistrust of the military. I guess somebody had to remind him what "Commander in Chief" means.

[On Guard for Thee]

Speaking of "biggest Bozo's" I reckon sonny boy Bush must be shakin' in his cowboy boots that Colin Powell writes a tell-all, especially with regard to Iraq. It will be especially interesting to hear how they arm twisted him into going before the UN and bolster the litany of lies the Bozos had made up.

[bush_cheney2004]

Speaking of "biggest Bozo's" I reckon sonny boy Bush must be shakin' in his cowboy boots that Colin Powell writes a tell-all, especially with regard to Iraq. It will be especially interesting to hear how they arm twisted him into going before the UN and bolster the litany of lies the Bozos had made up.

Old news...please try to keep up with the American "Gong Show".... if you can:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/colin-powell-book_n_1503592.html

[On Guard for Thee]

Old news...please try to keep up with the American "Gong Show".... if you can:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/colin-powell-book_n_1503592.html

EXACTLY!

[bush_cheney2004]

EXACTLY!

Exactly what ? America does its best to entertain you in Canada, but you still have to pay attention.

Edited January 9, 2014 by bush_cheney2004