Years too late, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates comes forward to tell us that President Obama mistrusted the military leaders who were advising him on Afghanistan, you know, that war that Obama told us mattered. Gates told Fox News that voices in the White House were telling Obama that military was trying to make him look bad in the war against terror. From Breitbart;
He stated, “I think this was particularly true in Afghanistan, and I think there were people in the White House, and I don’t want to name any names, who were constantly goading him and saying the military is trying to box you in. the military is trying to trap you. the military is trying to bully you. The military is trying to make you do something you don’t want to do.”
When asked if Vice President Joe Biden was one of these people, Gates answered, “I think so. And I was told so. And I think — but he was not alone, and you can argue with the options that they were putting forward, as President Bush did. you can disagree with them, as President Bush did. I — that’s totally fair, in my view. But, to think that they are trying to mousetrap you, I think is a — if I were the president and i truly believed that, I would replace those commanders that I felt were trying to trick me. So, I just — I worried a lot that he was hearing from people, things that made him worry that the military was consciously trying to thwart his will, consciously trying to be insubordinate, and I never believed any of that for a second.”
Of course it was Biden – Afghanistan was one of the little projects that the President gave Biden to handle so the President didn’t have to get his hands dirty.
Like I’ve said a hundred times before – screw you, Gates. Where was all of this honesty when it could have made a difference? If the President wasn’t listening to you and your generals, why didn’t you just very vocally resign? Why didn’t you come out with all of this before the 2012 election to prevent what has befallen the Pentagon an the troops since the reelection?
Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.
Guess that puts the Chump-in-Chief on equal footing because I suspect the military does not trust his judgment or that of those around him.
Please correct your spelling. Make that “Chimp”- in-Chief. Thank you.
Now that I think of it, maybe it should read
“Chimp/Chump”. You were halfway right.
You mean the “voices” in the white house of all those “reliable” scumbags, the dregs of society that this narcissistic prick hired? Like the muslim a.h.’s that will lie about anything? those voices?
Exactly correct, Jonn! Screw Gates.
Gates is part of that political class that is the cause and reason why Trump, Carson and Fiorina are successful….thus far.
To cover the ass of incompetents like Obama and Biden for the sake of “I’ll kiss your butt if you kiss mine…and don’t forget me when I need a job!” Is abhorrent and treasonous!
The SOB should be dragged out to the nearest parking lot and have his ass whipped good.
I lost all respect for Gates when I saw he was a BOD member of SAIC prior to becoming SECDEF.
“The SOB should be dragged out to the nearest parking lot and have his ass whipped good.”
Like a red-headed step-child, and with extreme prejudice.
Screw Gates.
“…and I don’t want to name any names…”
That’s the point when, as an interviewer, I would have said, “Okay, that’s a wrap. Turn off the camera and lights. Pack it up. We’re done. Burger King or IHOP, crew?. I’m buying!”
Yep.
Just like Panetta , Gates is blaming everyone why he could not get $hit done. I’d better watch my mouth Gates is an Eagle Scout and currently the President of the Boy Scouts of America ( no offense to any one who was a scout )
Agreed. Gates is trying to salvage his own legacy. How do we know that Gates himself isn’t projecting his own behavior or failures onto others?
Is that why Gay scout masters–every ped’s dream job–were permitted in the BSA?
That’s the way I’ve read it. “Gay” Gates.
Anything Gates might have said before the election would have been spun by the talking heads as “the last Bush holdout in the administration trying to undermine President Obama”, so I don’t think that would have worked. But he still should have resigned and made it known he was not happy with the way the war was going. None of this would have made the slightest bit of difference to the progs or their alies, but we would still respect the man.
Gates? He’s just another proglodyte belonging to B. Hussein 0bama & Company, thus he’s absolutely untrustworthy.
Gates was actually confirmed as CIA director back in 1991 ar being nominated by Bush 41. That fall was busy….Oliver North testimony, Robert Gates confirmation, and Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.
Really, Mr. Gates? Why would anyone with a desire to transform the country not trust the guys whose sworn duty it is to protect it from those who want to destroy it?
Gee, thanks so much for pointing out the obvious when it does little to no good for the country.
Yep.
Well said.
This is the very same stunt that Robert MacNamara pulled.
Do you guys remember that?
Is he still alive?
You nailed it John. That was my thought long ago that Gates was just like that treacherous bastard, Robert McNamara, who sold all of us down the river in Vietnam.
And no, McNamara’s not alive; he died in 2009. I wish I believed in Hell so I could take comfort in knowing the son of a bitch was burning in it.
As for Gates, he’s not through yet; he still has to preside over the creation of the Boy Scout merit badge for butt-fucking, which will be his legacy along with screwing the troops.
I’ll give Gates this much credit: he didn’t actively conspire with his POTUS to screw over the country. His sins were more of omission than commission.
McNamara, in contrast, actively assisted LBJ in engineering the US escalation in Vietnam, and in hiding the Vietam War’s actual cost for a number of years. And he didn’t own up to his mistakes publicly for decades after he left office.
My guess is that Gates chose to stay to try and provide adult leadership at DoD under Obama, so he could mitigate the damage from the inside, until he could stomach it no longer – which took a bit under 2 1/2 years. I could well be wrong.
There’s a whole lot of people in that neighborhood who need taken out and at the very least receive a good ass whippin’, the famous cherry trees and some ropes have more appeal however. The ones who come out with their stories afterward are every bit as useless as those who go along because they believe in the direction the country is going. Sad.
I agree and in more favor of a lot of rope and lots of tall oak trees. That’s all the butt wipes in DC deserve, regardless of political stripe.
Not many oaks around my neighborhood. Will “Chinese” elm and poplar do?
Probably not, those have weak wood very prone to breaking, you might just have to use a lamp post instead.
In all fairness, I never trusted Barry, either, but I’m not a Pentagon Perfumed Prince. And Drunkle Joe is a laff riot- can’t wait for him to throw his hat in the ring for Prez. Again.
After 7 years of this, I have the impression the admin doesn’t trust any part of the government, just the folks in the White House.
Which is weird for people that want more government, I know, but they’re also not interested in actually managing anything too. That takes work, they’re too busy building “great legacies” to actually, you know, carry the work out.
When gates had the ability to do something about Obama, stand with the military and for what’s right, he failed miserably.
gates’ feeble attempt to recover his integrity was a fools errand, he has none to recover.
History has labeled him a weak leader and an enabler. His position meant more to him than anything else.
a dime late, and a and a dollar short. better try next time…
is it me or is there a serious lack of leadership in this country now days ?????
nobody seems to understands that you do what’s right for your country and not the 4 year fad in the White House….
Where have the LBJs, MacNamaras, general Wheelers, general Westys gone?
You mean the ones who screwed the pooch during the Vietnam War?
The problem with it is, every time someone tries to do what’s right for the country, they end up getting fired.
that’s it… every damn time
I find this hard to believe. The military has been Bamaized. All they must tell him is what he wants to hear. Look at that dipshit in charge of the $250 million to train Syrians for example. Complete clusterfuck without consequence.
Gates is a turd.
Barry doesn’t trust the military, and in other news, water is wet.
Also climatologists report that snow may be cold.
And Physicists have confirmed that fire is hot.
Saw an interesting documentary to say the least with McNamara called the Fog of War , Rumsfeld did one too. Saw them on Netflix . When Gates does his it will be in his boy scouts uniform because he has more scout awards than his two years in the Air Force.
Way to Blue Falcon the military, Gates.