enhanced_deficit
01-07-2014, 11:28 PM
Gates is man of better character than SWC drone king regardless of their differing world views and roles:
Ex-Defense Secretary Robert Gates has harsh words for Obama and Biden
Robert Gates
Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has written a memoir. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press / June 15, 2011)
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By David S. Cloud This post has been updated, as indicated below.
January 7, 2014, 6:01 p.m.
WASHINGTON — President Obama became progressively more pessimistic about prospects for a successful ending to the war in Afghanistan, goaded by inexperienced White House advisors and a dislike of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to his former Defense secretary, Robert M. Gates.
In a forthcoming memoir that mixes strong praise with scathing criticism for Obama and his administration, Gates says Obama doubted his own policy after he decided to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan early in his first term. The president became "skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail," a stance that Gates says led him to consider resigning in September 2009.
Gates was named Defense secretary by President George W. Bush and was kept on by Obama for two years. He was at the center of major national security debates from 2006 to 2011, including the U.S. troop increases in Afghanistan and Iraq; the decision to carry out a Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan against Osama bin Laden’s suspected hide-out; U.S. involvement in the air war in Libya; and the lifting of the ban on gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
"Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War" provides a glimpse inside the Obama White House, which has long sought to keep its internal deliberations out of public view and to project an image of smooth-running efficiency. Gates’ version is far less flattering.
By early 2010, Gates writes, a "chasm" had opened between the White House and Pentagon leadership. He recalled moments of deep "anger," "frustration" and even "disgust" at the way advisors around Obama dealt with him and uniformed military officers.
He recounts sitting in a White House meeting in March 2011 in which Obama sharply criticized Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander he had chosen to turn around the Afghan war, and voiced deep skepticism about working with Karzai.
"As I sat there, I thought, the president doesn't trust his commander, can’t stand Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him it’s all about getting out," Gates writes in the 640-page book, which goes on sale Jan. 14. The Los Angeles Times obtained an early copy.
Petraeus later resigned as head of the CIA after a sex scandal. And the Obama administration is in bitter negotiations with Karzai over whether U.S. troops can remain in Afghanistan after the end of this year.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-pn-gates-book-obama-20140107,0,1276282.story
Obama didn’t believe in his own Afghanistan strategy - former defense sec
Published time: January 07, 2014 22:38
Edited time: January 08, 2014 04:57
http://cdn.rt.com/files/news/21/c3/40/00/robert-gates-memoir-pentagon.si.jpg Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert M. Gates (Reuters/Hyungwon Kang)
Despite an admirable intellect and dedicated support for US military personnel at war, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says President Barack Obama didn’t have sufficient faith in the troop-surge strategy he ordered in Afghanistan.
After months of debate with Gates and top advisers, Obama ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan in late 2009. Around 30,000 soldiers were to be the final push for stabilizing the war-torn country before a phased withdrawal starting in mid-2011.
http://rt.com/usa/robert-gates-memoir-pentagon-292/
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Ex-Defense Secretary Robert Gates has harsh words for Obama and Biden
Robert Gates
Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has written a memoir. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press / June 15, 2011)
Senate action a preview of 2014 election fight: Who's on your side? Senate action a preview of 2014 election fight: Who's on your side?
Obama: Unemployed aren't 'lazy,' they just need a hand Obama: Unemployed aren't 'lazy,' they just need a hand
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By David S. Cloud This post has been updated, as indicated below.
January 7, 2014, 6:01 p.m.
WASHINGTON — President Obama became progressively more pessimistic about prospects for a successful ending to the war in Afghanistan, goaded by inexperienced White House advisors and a dislike of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to his former Defense secretary, Robert M. Gates.
In a forthcoming memoir that mixes strong praise with scathing criticism for Obama and his administration, Gates says Obama doubted his own policy after he decided to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan early in his first term. The president became "skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail," a stance that Gates says led him to consider resigning in September 2009.
Gates was named Defense secretary by President George W. Bush and was kept on by Obama for two years. He was at the center of major national security debates from 2006 to 2011, including the U.S. troop increases in Afghanistan and Iraq; the decision to carry out a Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan against Osama bin Laden’s suspected hide-out; U.S. involvement in the air war in Libya; and the lifting of the ban on gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
"Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War" provides a glimpse inside the Obama White House, which has long sought to keep its internal deliberations out of public view and to project an image of smooth-running efficiency. Gates’ version is far less flattering.
By early 2010, Gates writes, a "chasm" had opened between the White House and Pentagon leadership. He recalled moments of deep "anger," "frustration" and even "disgust" at the way advisors around Obama dealt with him and uniformed military officers.
He recounts sitting in a White House meeting in March 2011 in which Obama sharply criticized Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander he had chosen to turn around the Afghan war, and voiced deep skepticism about working with Karzai.
"As I sat there, I thought, the president doesn't trust his commander, can’t stand Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him it’s all about getting out," Gates writes in the 640-page book, which goes on sale Jan. 14. The Los Angeles Times obtained an early copy.
Petraeus later resigned as head of the CIA after a sex scandal. And the Obama administration is in bitter negotiations with Karzai over whether U.S. troops can remain in Afghanistan after the end of this year.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-pn-gates-book-obama-20140107,0,1276282.story
Obama didn’t believe in his own Afghanistan strategy - former defense sec
Published time: January 07, 2014 22:38
Edited time: January 08, 2014 04:57
http://cdn.rt.com/files/news/21/c3/40/00/robert-gates-memoir-pentagon.si.jpg Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert M. Gates (Reuters/Hyungwon Kang)
Despite an admirable intellect and dedicated support for US military personnel at war, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says President Barack Obama didn’t have sufficient faith in the troop-surge strategy he ordered in Afghanistan.
After months of debate with Gates and top advisers, Obama ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan in late 2009. Around 30,000 soldiers were to be the final push for stabilizing the war-torn country before a phased withdrawal starting in mid-2011.
http://rt.com/usa/robert-gates-memoir-pentagon-292/
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