[lentulusgracchus]

Gates is playing mandarin to the wooly Communists in the Administration .... who knows how many double games he's playing?

But this cutting is without a doubt the agenda of the "disarm America" crowd who, remember, did indeed kill the B-1 program once, under President Carter, and then Ronnie brought it back in modified, more-modest form.

So Gates could be fighting a rearguard action against a crowd of Benedict Arnolds and Quislings, or he could do us a greater service by resigning in protest over all this PC buncombe, reinforcing what Gen. McChrystal did in walking the plank.

[J Edgar]

Yep He could choose one of your suggested paths: but if he is, as I suspect, a Corporate (as in Soros) bought player, then he will march forward with the destruction of US military power IMHO