So...he was only answering those questions by saying he "read about that in the newspaper, and other than that, I don't know"...
because he is pretending not know???
Oh..okay.
Actually, I think he answered that way to irritate you ;-)
I heard someone that said he hadn't spent time in Iraq...and almost everyone that asked a question of him....got an answer that HE said he READ IN THE NEWSPAPER!!
Well, I don't know your sources and I don't know exactly what Gates said about that, but he has been out of government and out of the CIA for a while.
Should have answered those questions by saying that he READ IT ON FREEREPUBLIC?