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Senate committee approves Gates nomination
CNN ^ | 12/05/06

Posted on 12/05/2006 2:26:08 PM PST by TexKat

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved President Bush's defense secretary nomination Tuesday and sent it to the full Senate for approval, the committee's outgoing chairman said.

Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, announced the committee's 21-0 decision after a closed session.

Robert Gates testified before the committee for hours Tuesday, telling members that the United States was not winning the war in Iraq, and that the U.S. course there "over the next year or two" would shape the entire Middle East.

At his Senate confirmation hearing, Robert Gates gave no timeline for ending the conflict in Iraq, but he repeatedly referenced "the next year or two" when discussing U.S. options in the war-torn nation.

"Our course over the next year or two will determine whether the American and Iraqi people and the next president of the United States will face a slowly but steadily improving situation in Iraq and in the region or will face the very real risk and possible reality of a regional conflagration," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: confirmed; robertgates
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To: FreedomNeocon

IMHO, all Gates just did was go before their little committee, play back all their talking points, take his verbal floggings from FatTed & Co and get through the process so he can go over to the Pentagon and START DOING HIS D*** JOB.

Bush and his appointees have already been through this deal enough to know that it doesn't really matter how qualified they are, if they don't play by the dims' rules before this committee, it'll take until Easter to get through all the bloviations while the work he's supposed to be doing is all handed out to whatever Clinton hacks are still left so they can screw the pooch and leak stuff.


21 posted on 12/05/2006 2:58:05 PM PST by Unrepentant VN Vet (Merry Christmas. (Refer complaints about being offended to your Chaplain...or whatever.))
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To: roses of sharon

How on earth could these Senators vote for Gates once he claimed the US was losing the War?


22 posted on 12/05/2006 2:59:16 PM PST by trumandogz (Rudy G 2008: The "G" Stands For Gun Grabbing & Gay Lovin.)
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Senate Armed Services Cmte. Hearing on Robert Gates - Morning - C-Span

The Senate Armed Services Cmte. holds the first half of an open hearing on the nomination of Robert Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Sec. of Defense. CIA director from 1991-93 under Presidents Bush & Clinton, Gates is currently President of Texas A&M University. Senators call for a new Iraq strategy during the hearing. 12/5/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 3 hr. 30 min.

23 posted on 12/05/2006 3:00:02 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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To: trumandogz

Why?


24 posted on 12/05/2006 3:01:17 PM PST by graf008 ("My most important function on the Supreme Court is to tell the majority to take a walk." -Scalia)
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To: TexKat
We'll not really know what kind of Defence Secretary he'll make until he actually takes up his post. My guess is that he'll make a point of being low-key.

Regards, Ivan

25 posted on 12/05/2006 3:02:16 PM PST by MadIvan (I aim to misbehave.)
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To: trumandogz

I am, actually, encouraged he said that. It means that he will act with quicker force to ensure the conflict is won. If you say we are winning, it is easy to be complacent. When you get the attitude we ar elosing, it usually helps justify more extreme action.


26 posted on 12/05/2006 3:02:51 PM PST by graf008 ("My most important function on the Supreme Court is to tell the majority to take a walk." -Scalia)
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To: graf008
In today's hearing Gates claimed the US was losing the War in Iraq. At that very moment he should have been thrown out of the hearing room but instead he gets unanimous support among the Democrats on the Committee.

Could you imagine if during WWII if the Sec. of War Nominee claimed we were losing WWII and would have still be confirmed?
27 posted on 12/05/2006 3:05:16 PM PST by trumandogz (Rudy G 2008: The "G" Stands For Gun Grabbing & Gay Lovin.)
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To: TexKat; P-Marlowe

I listened to Gates and he's an insider.

We'll get nothing dramatic to win the war.

I'm betting we get cut and run in a subtler version. My son was at Fallujah. As one of the questions asked today, "What do we tell the parents of the kids who died there when we back out of Fallujah, that it wasn't worth taking in the first place?"

I've studiously avoided comparing this to Vietnam, but the political impact on the war is smelling sickly death-like to Vietnam.

Republicans are rolling over once again. They are the experts at rolling over and playing dead whether in majority or minority. I'm feeling sick right now. I'll try to see this differently in the morning.


28 posted on 12/05/2006 3:05:21 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it! Supporting our troops means praying for them to WIN!)
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To: xzins

Bush acknowledged, however, that he did consult with the 41st president before nominating Robert Gates, CIA director under his father, to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. But he said the elder Bush had no advance knowledge of the appointment.


Asked to comment on widespread view that his father's influence was coming to bear on his administration, Bush insisted: "I am the commander-in-chief."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2702790&page=1


29 posted on 12/05/2006 3:08:48 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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Senators Praise Gates as a Welcome Change - New York Times
30 posted on 12/05/2006 3:11:54 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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To: roses of sharon

Yes, indeed he did. Let's hope he is going to fill the position well, but I don't have a good feeling about this at all. I don't like that he said what he knew they wanted to hear. I am already missing Rumsfeld's press conferences and the way he stood up to the press.


31 posted on 12/05/2006 3:13:18 PM PST by FarRightFanatic
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To: TexKat
Adelman, an ostracized and outcast prominent member of the Washington Republican establishment, said Rumsfeld consistently refused to listen to bad news about Iraq.

There. Fixed it. Wonder who else in the NeoCon old guard will be consumed?

32 posted on 12/05/2006 3:16:31 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
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To: TexKat; P-Marlowe

Pres. Bush is my guy. I've supported him when others wouldn't. I special-pleaded for him on immigration (I was proven wrong by events.) I supported Harriet Miers as a judicial choice. (She's still a possibility if STevens kicks the bucket.)

However, it is time to move on. We live in a constitutional republic that REQUIRES the changing of loyalty at least every 8 years. One guy is on his way out; I must find another person with conservative, Christian values to support in hopes that he'll continue to advance a moral, wholesome world instead of a socialist, licentious one. Pres. Bush will still have the veto, and he'll have my support.

However, the candidate I support will probably be saying significantly different things than is the President.

I listened to Gates say today that we shouldn't attack Syria, Iran, etc. Might as well have put William Cohen back in place. Then we can send the FBI out after Al Qaeda.


33 posted on 12/05/2006 3:17:18 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it! Supporting our troops means praying for them to WIN!)
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To: trumandogz; Lunatic Fringe; RetiredArmy
Asked point-blank by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., whether the U.S. is winning in Iraq, Gates replied, "No, sir."
I don't see anywhere in this statement that Gates said the U.S. is "losing." Some of you have put the word "losing" in his mouth. Stick to Gates's actual words, and don't be like the MSM. Right now, I'd say there's a stalemate quality to the situation. It's more like Whack-a-mole.
34 posted on 12/05/2006 3:21:52 PM PST by Clara Lou
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To: trumandogz

I could. The comment doesn't bother me. I think it, rather, justifies the use of more extreme measures then saying "We are winning and doing a good job".


35 posted on 12/05/2006 3:22:57 PM PST by graf008 ("My most important function on the Supreme Court is to tell the majority to take a walk." -Scalia)
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To: TexKat

It appears that the President has gone over to the dark side.


36 posted on 12/05/2006 3:28:26 PM PST by sgtbono2002 (The fourth estate is a fifth column.)
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To: trumandogz
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services

Full Committee Members

REPUBLICANS 
John Warner (Virginia)
Chairman 

John McCain (Arizona)
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Pat Roberts (Kansas)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Susan M. Collins (Maine)
John Ensign (Nevada)
James M. Talent (Missouri)
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia)
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina)
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
John Thune (South Dakota)

DEMOCRATS 

Carl Levin (Michigan)
Ranking Member 

Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia)
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska)
Mark Dayton (Minnesota)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)

37 posted on 12/05/2006 3:33:33 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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To: xzins

"I've studiously avoided comparing this to Vietnam, but the political impact on the war is smelling sickly death-like to Vietnam."

Don't give up hope yet, Padre.

One fundamental difference between the situation now and the one we had then is that Bush is in no way like LBJ.

I know people even around here like to bash Bush, but I've said before that I'd fly with him and I haven't changed that opinion.


38 posted on 12/05/2006 3:38:36 PM PST by Unrepentant VN Vet (Merry Christmas. (Refer complaints about being offended to your Chaplain...or whatever.))
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To: TexKat
The spokesman rejected any notion that Gates' assessment of the war would be demoralizing to U.S. troops.

The reporter inserts this comment into the story, yet doesn't question whether democrats' actions and comments the past three years aren't meant to demoralize the troops? Unbelievable!

39 posted on 12/05/2006 3:46:38 PM PST by rabidralph (The pajama-wetters are at it again.)
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To: trumandogz

Good press, since they can destroy a man with a drop of a hat.


40 posted on 12/05/2006 3:47:07 PM PST by roses of sharon
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