Posted on 11/11/2006 8:29:30 AM PST by shrinkermd
Signaling an openness to a broad shift on his Iraq policy, President George W. Bush on Saturday described his new pick for defense secretary, Robert Gates, as an able manager and "agent of change."
This week's surprise announcement of the ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- a lightning rod for criticism of the administration's handling of the Iraq war -- followed a crushing defeat for Bush's Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections.
In Gates, Bush chose a former CIA director and pragmatist expected to be more inclined to consensus-building than the combative Rumsfeld.
"He has experience leading large and complex organizations, and he has shown that he is an agent of change," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "As secretary of defense, he will provide a fresh outlook on our strategy in Iraq, and what we need to do to prevail."
Bush has acknowledged that voter frustration over Iraq helped fuel wins for Democrats that swept them to power in both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
And meanwhile, the North American Union, and other covert anti-soverignty activities move forward without voter knowledge, awareness or approval. All very sanitary and clean....
I keep asking myself what is the "consensus" position between stay and win and cut and run. Declare victory and run?
You got that right, the cut and run is already being a contingency.
Oh yeah. A spook bureaucrat is really going to inspire the troops. (sarc off)
You may now refer to Iraq as a political war.
So Bush is replacing Rummy with a guy who ran death squads and torture teams in Central America, and who gave chemical weapons to Saddam, and Stinger missiles to Osama bin Laden, and who twisted Intelligence estimates for Reagan, and who coordinated Iran Contra? Who's the genius who came up with this?
I took so much heat for my opinion that I stayed out of the kitchen for the rest of the day.
Leni
Agent of change....hmmmmm, where have I heard that phrase before? Oh, I remember, that's what the dims always say. Trouble is they never tell us if it is a change for the better or a change for the worse.
Wonder why we suspect a change for the worse, when change is not followed with, "for the better"?
It pains me to agree with you.
At least he has some military service. USAF. Rummy does too, but more of it, as a Naval aviator. Gates was an officer in SAC, likely as an intelligence officer, given his educational background at the time ( master's degree in history from Indiana University), but I haven't been able to confirm that.
I don't have a problem with Rummy leaving, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it appears that he's been dumped to placate the dems.
Are we gonna 'cut and run' now?
This was decided weeks ago.
Let the dems have the illusion that they forced him out. They will then overreach. When Gates reaches the same conclusions Rumsfeld did they'll have nowhere to go.
But that's not it; it's because his ability to run DOD is over. Beginning in January, he would have been spending 5 days a week on Capitol Hill being raked over the coals by various Senate and House committees.
And since he had to go, it had to be ASAP so Bush's new guy could be voted on by the still-Republican Senate.
It's satire but may make you feel better.
http://large-regular.blogspot.com/2006/11/rumsfeld-interview-large-regular-was.html
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