Did any of his resignation statement contain the phrase: "so I can concentrate on my campaign for President"?
Here is the email sent out to us students at Texas A&M...
By the time you read this, the President of the United States will have
announced that he will nominate me to be the next Secretary of
Defense. I am deeply honored, but also deeply saddened.
As most of you know, almost two years ago I declined an opportunity to
become the first Director of National Intelligence. I did so
principally because of my love for Texas A&M and because much of the
program we had initiated to take A&M to a new level of excellence had
only just started.
Today, two years later, all of the initiatives of greatest importance
are well underway and on an assured path to completion. The faculty
reinvestment program is on track and all 447 new positions should be
funded by next September. Work is underway or in planning for more
than $500 million in construction, some 90% of it on new academic
facilities. We have made significant progress in increasing the
diversity of our faculty and student body, and both the programs and
funding are in place to continue that important and on-going effort.
And many new initiatives are now underway or are already complete to
enhance both graduate and undergraduate education, including, above
all, the new University Studies degree program. The Corps is on the
right track in terms of growth and grades, and the Capital Campaign
will end next month having far exceeded our billion dollar goal.
Some of you may worry whether one or another of these efforts will
continue with my departure. You need to know that the progress we have
made has been a team endeavor, and the team will remain. A remarkable
faculty and a group of gifted administrators and staff who truly
deserve the credit for all that has been accomplished over the past
four-plus years will still be here -- above all, my strong right arm
for nearly four and a half years, the Executive Vice President and
Provost, Dr. David Prior.
I apologize for surprising you with this momentous decision and
announcement, and for leaving as president before fulfilling my
commitment to serve Texas A&M for at least five years. I hope you will
understand the circumstances that made this necessary and that this
appointment comes nearly as much a surprise to me as to you.
I will have more to say to you before I leave (if I am confirmed by the
Senate). But I must tell you that while I chose Texas A&M over
returning to government almost two years ago, much has happened both
here and around the world since then. I love Texas A&M deeply, but I
love our country more and, like the many Aggies in uniform, I am
obligated to do my duty. And so I must go. I hope you have some idea
of how painful that is for me and how much I will miss you and this
unique American institution.
At this point, I expect to remain as President of Texas A&M until
completion of the confirmation process and a Senate vote. I assure
you, you will hear more from me before my departure.
Robert M. Gates
President
Texas A&M University
That he was fed up with fighting a politically-correct war with both brains tied behind his back?
That he sensed that mushy, inner circle political advisers had the President's ear.....advisers who wanted to win the next election rather than to decisively win a war?
Many questions could be raised. I feel Cheney is fed up also, but will stay the course.
IMO the hawks are being eliminated or neutered. Time will tell.
Correction, the actions of the new SofD, the Baker report, and the President's embracing a possible cut-and-run-Baker report will do the telling, not time.
Leni
Two things bother me about this nomination:
1. He's a career CIA bureaucrat
2. (quoted from Wiki): "In 1996, his memoirs were published under the title From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War."
I have a deep suspicion of careerists in general: always looking for the massage, never ruffling feathers, the first principle is CYA at CIA. Of course, he could be an exception, but the civilian head of an agency with hundreds of billions of dollars to spend wisely or blow and the lives of Americans hanging in the balance is something I wouldn't gamble on. Right or Wrong, you know Rumsfeld didn't give a crap about all the bureaucratic CYA BS.
Regarding the book, let me say, I have not read it. It may have a good reason for the title which attributes victory in the cold war to 5 presidents. It sounds to me like a liberal way of diminishing Reagan's overwhelmingly important role in winning the cold war, while the other presidents, starting with Truman were placeholders at best.
I'm going to look for blurbs from the book and reviews and report back if there's anything worth mentioning.
Bill Gates would have been better. We would own half the world by monday morning. :p
As an aaisde for every one who is impreseed that Gates is an Eagle scout, Rumsfeld is an Eagle Scout also and also the recipient of the distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo.
Anyway, I served in Vietnam and after we cut and ran there, I said we should never get in a fight unless we fight to win. We are no longer fighting to win in Iraq.
We should either terminate Mutadr Al-Sadr (and any other militia heads who oppose the Iraqi government and stir ethnic/religious hatred and disarm their militias), or we should pull back to the North and the South. Neither Turkey nor Iran would attack the Kurds if we have substantial troops based there - plus it will give use base in case we have to take out Iran's nukes. The Sunnis would probably tolerate us to preserve their oil from takeover by the Shiites and the Kurds would be happy for us to stay. This would leave the Shiites and their buddies in Iran to fix up the dilapidated Baghdad and central Iraq infrastructure with no oil resources.
Prayers up for Dr. Gates!
As are very probably the two stealth Supremes Bush had installed..
The replacement of Rumsfeld with Gates is significant, especially coming as it does over Cheney's objections. So is Bush's statement today in which he indicated that the administration will partner closely with the Baker Iraq study group in which Gates has been involved.
Reading the tea leaves, Bush seems to have lost faith in the neocons and Jim Baker's crew of realist conservatives is taking over. This will be confirmed if Gates purges the senior civilian staff at the Pentagon (like Cambone). Another way of looking at it is that the real power brokers from Wall Street and Big Oil have sent Baker's boys in to preserve our national interests in the Middle East. Bush may have been placed under heavy duress to make this move.
You may recall that Jim Baker has been on the outs with the neocons ever since he essentially told the Israelis to stuff it when he was Secretary of State. I can't say that I'm unhappy seeing him back in the mix.
Overlord Pelosi says the Senate has to investigate him first....surely the first Borking of the new Defeatocrat reign.
A lot of the troops didn't like Rummy...including my son who came back from Iraq last week.
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?
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.