Robert Gates to be named Secretary of Defense

Perdogg

[Thebaddog]

Why?

[bvw]

It all Depends(tm) on how hot the blow torches the DeMSM are. Gates could be the first toast in the new toaster.

In which case the DeMSM blows Baker's plans to the Nether Kingdom of Swift Boat Hell.

[Enchante]

"There was no "appearance," Rumsfeld needed to go. He failed to prosecute the war aggressively enough."

I agree, BUT, there was little hope for a better policy before with all the 'Rats-RINOs-DBM types waiting to pounce on anything the least bit controversial to one-worlder socialist morons. NOW, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that Gates or anyone in the military will dare to do anything more aggressive. Now, I'm disgusted to say, it will all be about how to wind down our presence as quickly as possible, hoping Iraq won't collapse into total chaos before we can get out of there.

[acapesket]

Moderates are folks with no balls, unable to make a stand.
That's why we find ourselves here, folks who lack will.

[stockstrader]

I couldn't agree more. It just might a made a difference with enough independents in the 'super-close' races like Virginia.

So sad that he waited until the day after the election. I think his resignation looks EVEN WORSE the very DAY AFTER the election.

[FreeReign]

wow the President is showing his backbone.....vetos..yeah right... I wonder when He will resign..after all we need to work with the Democrats

The electorate just drop-kicked the president's majority and left him with a majority of Democrats.

I ask you, why should it be reasonably expected that the President will show backbone, when the electorate voted in a bunch of leftwing cut-and-runs.

[Huck]

I'm actually hoping something good gets accomplished. I'm pretty far from a Bush kool aid drinker. Voted for him once. But I thought he sounded very good today. I would think most ppl would have liked what they heard today. He was like Coach Parcells after a loss. Brutally frank at times, totally accepting of the situation, and clearly prepared for it. I'm not saying I have forgotten that moonbats are moonbats, but we'll see. The danger is hubris, and I hope for all our sake the DEMs pass on it.

[xzins]

It's a good speculation.

Many don't like to hear it, but SecDef's don't last 6 years. They last about 2 or 3 and an occasional 4. Rummie had a great run. There's no reason for bitterness OR for thinking that he's the only guy who can make it happen.

He would have done himself a favor by departing at the 4 year mark. That's what I like about the guy. He stayed, realizing that it wouldn't help his legacy at all.

He had guts, and he deserves credit for that. And, IIRC, he was the one who moved Tommie Thompson off the dime in Afghan...pushed him to sh_t or get off the pot.

[SJackson]

And not only the last 6 years, he had an honorable career, it's a shame he went out like this, he deserved better.

[xzins]

Rummie was a great secdef because he was not afraid to make a decision. Stunning, historically fast Afghan and Iraqi victories are part of his legacy. The plan for Iraqi reconstruction also falls on his watch. The building blocks for that new government were not bad at all.

Where Rummie got bogged down was with the insurgency. Now, I'm personally convinced that if the mainstream media had not shrilly supported and underwritten the insurgency, rather than be loyal to their own troops, I think the cordon/conquer/control plan would have worked. It was weakened by the MSM giving continual hope to the insurgency.

Therefore, any new plan that will work MUST be one in which the MSM's impact is neutralized.

But, it must also be on that leads to winning.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Same old, same old - unless he begins to wage a proper war. Heard someone say today that he's a *negotiator*. You can't negotiate with terrorists. Neither can you appease them. If he's going to be the same as Rummy, then what's the point?

[KTM rider]

Ok, I figured out the new war strategery that Gates has been cooking up during his tenure at Texas A&M ....

the plan is to send the millions of illegal aliens over to Iraq to "do the jobs Iraqis won't do"

[PghBaldy]

Cheney was the guy who looked at VP candidates. Gates was a guy on the Iraq commission, looking at fixing Iraq policy. I guess they decided to appoint one of their own as solution. Kind of ironic.

[PghBaldy]

Israel can't be happy with any of this. Baker has a rep.

[PghBaldy]

That would be wonderful. I'm not sure if it's the water fountains in Foggy Bottom, or she was like that before, but her comments on a Palestinian State are foolish.

[PghBaldy]

Yep. It started before Iraq too. Remember the hubbub over "Operation Infinite Justice."

[George W. Bush]

But think about this: his claim to fame is that he rose through the ranks of a government bureaucracy. He's not just mediocre, he excels at it.

I think you're jumping the gun on him. I think to come up through CIA, a blueblooded pack of politicized snobs, he had to be able to deliver. The indication is that he is not a hack or a gladhander. They could have gotten any CIA functionary for that.

His record of leadership and delivering the goods at his university post is consistent with that. Probably most telling is that he is a close associate of James Baker III who never suffered a fool gladly.

I don't know if he'll be any good. But I doubt he is just a hack either. Probably whether you like him will depend on whether you like what Baker comes up with to solve the Iraq problem for Bush. The Bush family always turns to him to solve their problems. Reagan relied on him too. Baker is probably the most effective technocrat and civil servant in decades.

The key fact about the new SecDef is his connection to Baker and to Baker's commission on Iraq. He will see to it that the Pentagon implements what will be called the Baker Plan.

[pollyannaish]

Thank you. It's good to see a voice of reason here.

Rummy is not gone as a spokesman for this administration and its policies yet. If you look at the pictures from today's announcement and take a moment to really look at the body language you KNOW what is going on.

[George W. Bush]

And not only the last 6 years, he had an honorable career, it's a shame he went out like this, he deserved better.

What made him such a classy guy is he is the last one to whine about this outcome even though he did want to finish the job. But he was obviously sad to depart. Like W., he believed in the mission and the solution they were trying to implement.

If only more in the cabinet had his spirit and confidence.

I just saw Kissinger on the Cavuto replay. He praised Rumsfeld for fighting an unfamiliar war while trying to reform and modernize the Pentagon. He also gave a strong endorsement to Gates as a very effective leader and said he knew him very well since he was assistant director CIA during the Reagan years. Kissinger said he was non-partisan in outlook, highly effective, highly informed on foreign affairs. He said he could not imagine a better choice for SecDef. It wasn't the usual dry Kissinger stuff, he was very passionate advocating Gates' merits.

[flynmudd]

Shut up! You are repeating yourself.