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Defense Secretary Nominee Gates is a Defeatist
December 5th 2006 | jveritas

Posted on 12/05/2006 10:10:32 AM PST by jveritas

Based on what on what Defense Secretary nominee Mr. Gates has said so far in the Senate confirmation hearings, it is easy to conclude that he is a “Defeatist”. No matter how tough the situation is in Iraq he must not say in public that we are not winning the war in Iraq. That is totally demoralizing to our troops and will further embolden our enemies there like Al Qaeda, Iran, and Syria. Moreover the man has shown extreme ambiguity and uncertainty in his answers to many questions.

I doubt very much that he told the President that we are not winning in Iraq or else the President would not have nominated him. It may be too late to withdraw his nomination now, but our country and most importantly our brave troops deserve a better person to be the Secretary of Defense.


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; bush; gates; iran; iraq; syria; wot
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To: Austin Willard Wright; Lunatic Fringe; All

Our enemy lives and survives on being embolden by a defeatist attitude form our side. When you are at war you do not give aid and comfort to the enemy by saying we are not winning. We are not in a church confession here, we are in war and we must win because if we do not, then the consequences will be beyond our worst imaginable nightmares.


61 posted on 12/05/2006 10:34:13 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: Omega Man II

Churchill did not go on Radio and told the world that Britain is not winning the war.


62 posted on 12/05/2006 10:35:27 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: jveritas
Our enemy lives and survives on being embolden by a defeatist attitude form our side. When you are at war you do not give aid and comfort to the enemy by saying we are not winning. We are not in a church confession here, we are in war and we must win because if we do not, then the consequences will be beyond our worst imaginable nightmares.

In other words what you are saying has been said before...NUTS!

63 posted on 12/05/2006 10:36:12 AM PST by rhombus
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To: Alter Kaker
Winning Iraq would make him a great President, losing makes him the worst. And it's up to him to sell the public.

I'm not convinced that Bush is committed to winning this thing. This latest move adds to my concern.

64 posted on 12/05/2006 10:36:23 AM PST by Jim W N
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To: Jim 0216
Right, but the liberals only have losing strategies, whether its in war or economics. Reagan showed us how to win the War on Poverty through less taxes, less government, and more freedom in the marketplace. FDR's New Deal and Johnson's Great Society created poverty.

Reagan never made the utopian claim that we can "win the War on Poverty." He knew that poverty will always be with us. It is possible to provide more opportunities for the poor through smaller government but some people will always fail to take advantage of those opportunities.

65 posted on 12/05/2006 10:36:38 AM PST by Austin Willard Wright
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To: Austin Willard Wright
Reagan never made the utopian claim that we can "win the War on Poverty." He knew that poverty will always be with us. It is possible to provide more opportunities for the poor through smaller government but some people will always fail to take advantage of those opportunities.

How about the War on Drugs?

66 posted on 12/05/2006 10:37:31 AM PST by rhombus
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To: Austin Willard Wright

In Iraq we are fighting all the main terrorism actors in the world Al Qaeda, Syria and Iran. If we do not defeat them in Iraq and if we lose there because we lost our will to fight then God help us all. The nightmare will be horrible beyond belief.


67 posted on 12/05/2006 10:38:25 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: Racehorse

The problem with that concept of "winning" is that it is determined by the Iraqis, not us.


68 posted on 12/05/2006 10:38:42 AM PST by PghBaldy (Reporter: Are you surprised? Nancy Pelosi: No. My eyes always look like this.)
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To: Terpfen

Do you think so? Is he playing politics, emboldenening our enemies, and demoralizing our troops so he will get confirmed? Very sad and very horrible if this is the case.


69 posted on 12/05/2006 10:40:01 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: jveritas
It is beyond ignorant to say WE ARE LOSING THE WAR!!!

While all is not well nor is the WAR going the way we would like it to go or the way it was intended, TO SAY, "WE ARE LOSING" is nothing more than pandering to the left, demoralizing to our troops and ignorant of the entire HISTORY of WARFARE!!

70 posted on 12/05/2006 10:40:45 AM PST by PISANO
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To: Alter Kaker

I would think the question of whether or not Iran gets nukes may have something to do with his placement in history.


71 posted on 12/05/2006 10:40:56 AM PST by PghBaldy (Reporter: Are you surprised? Nancy Pelosi: No. My eyes always look like this.)
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To: Terpfen
Gates is saying what he needs to in order to get confirmed.

Exactly. Why do these people go hysterical so quickly?

Don't they sound like the MSM?

I wonder?

72 posted on 12/05/2006 10:41:20 AM PST by oldbrowser (This war isn't over until it's OVER.)
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To: PISANO

Exactly.


73 posted on 12/05/2006 10:41:24 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: Alter Kaker
If cut-and-run is the new policy, as it appears to be, then God help us all.

Wait till February or March. By then, the new Congress will have the real political battlelines drawn and we'll know what Bush (and Gates) intend to do about them. We'll also begin to have an idea about something equally important: what the likely 2008 American voters will support.

74 posted on 12/05/2006 10:41:41 AM PST by Racehorse (Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.)
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To: trumandogz
President bush would have never lead us into a war which we could not win.

Again, we CAN win. Haven't seen leadership demonstrating a WILL and DETERMINATION to win.

75 posted on 12/05/2006 10:41:58 AM PST by Jim W N
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To: jveritas

I miss Rummy already. What a flippin milquetoast.


76 posted on 12/05/2006 10:43:31 AM PST by pissant
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To: jveritas
Many people in the US do not understand how our candid discussion and honest disagreements inspire our enemies. Many of our enemies do not, and never have, understand that our differences do not mean we're quiting. We may be getting ready to cut and run. Obviously, the Democrats favor abandoning the Iraqis to the same fate they left South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Cubans to. On the other hand, most Americans, I believe, won't want to have this end with genocide and complete destruction in Iraq. Much needs to be done to make Iraq viable, but cut and run isn't it.
77 posted on 12/05/2006 10:43:53 AM PST by elhombrelibre (Iraq: the next country Liberals want to abandon just before Israel.)
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To: jveritas

"he must not say in public that we are not winning the war in Iraq"

At this point, we will never win the war in Iraq until we deal with Iran decisively

We have allowed the Liberals to turn this into another Vietnam, where we can't fight to win, and can't crush a meddling country (Iran/Cambodia).


78 posted on 12/05/2006 10:44:22 AM PST by Eccl 10:2 (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem - Ps 122:6)
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To: All

It is time to get out.

It's one thing when the libs and media want to turn this into a Vietnam. Now our own Defense Secretary.

We should have kicked their ass (which our great military did) with about 200 men dead. Then given those islamic ingrates 6 months to ge their shit together and then left.

They are not deserving of a republic or democracy. I feel bad for their kids but I feel worse for out young men and women and their families.

Get out now.


79 posted on 12/05/2006 10:44:48 AM PST by rbmillerjr
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To: Alter Kaker

You and I know the enemy more than many people in this forum with all due respect to everyone. I am originally from Lebanon and I am a Christian and I know as you do the nature of our terrorist enemy. It is on words that these people live and act, when they get comforted by defeatist words from their opponents, they get more embolden and they will attack us more and more. Some people on this forum, only few to be honest, do not know the most horrible and beyond any of our worst imaginable nightmares that will happen if we lost our will and defeat Al Qaeda, Syria, and Iran inside Iraq.


80 posted on 12/05/2006 10:45:03 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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