How Will the New Gates Book Affect Obama/Hillary/Et Al?

On the Osama bin Laden raid:
Although Gates elsewhere describes Obama’s crackdown on leaks, he also explicitly blames the White House and CIA for revealing details about the “techniques, tactics, and procedures the SEALs had used in the Bin Laden operation,” despite his warning not to release them. “Everybody in that room agreed to keep mum on details. That commitment lasted about five hours,” Gates writes of the night of the raid, adding that the White House and CIA “just couldn’t wait to brag and to claim credit. The facts were often wrong, including details in the first press briefing. Nonetheless the information just kept pouring out. I was outraged and, at one point, told Donilon, ‘Why doesn’t everybody just shut the **** up?’ To no avail.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...vent-seen-yet-102051_Page2.html#ixzz2q6LVwNBA

 

Has Gates done interviews about this book?

If you are going to make serious charges like he does, you should come out and defend them.

A POTUS sending troops on a mission he doesn't believe in is as deplorable as it gets.

 

That is funny coming from someone writing a supposed tell-all book. lol

 

Is this in regard to the surge in Afghanistan? From what I read, he lost faith after it appeared the mission wasn't working. I didn't see anything about him not believing in it in the first place.

 

In praise of Obama, Gates calls the president's decision to order Navy SEALs to raid a house in Pakistan believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden "one of the most courageous decisions I had ever witnessed in the White House."

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/07/605...#storylink=cpy

 

That you don't shows once again how lost you and your ilk are.

 

Exactly. Robert Gates was basically getting hammered from both sides: the armed forces and the secretaries. He has said positive and negative thoughts of both sides.

All of that is true. When it comes to Afghanistan Biden was one of the few to provide alternative strategies to continue/wrap up the US's role. His team pretty much did a key job actually required of Mullen, Petraeus, Gates. Of course, he rambled and pretty much everyone in the Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings in 2009 turned their minds off, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that he provided a very useful view even if it wasn't the chosen way forward. When the JCS wouldn't consider every side of an argument, Biden took the pseudo-red team role that somebody should do.

Not at all. He had no choice or options presented to him in a 1-year span. Given the information that he had at hand, he made a solid decision about the troop surge.

 

typical "pile on" by the right posters. No substance, just numerous posts littered with nonsense.

 

If you're selling a book, you don't limit your market demographics.

 

Because wantonly sending thousands American troops into an uninvolved country to die because your daddy felt threatened 10+ years before is only slightly better.

 

He tore apart his "enthusiasm" for the Afghan war.... You know who else lacked enthusiasm for the Afghan war? 88% of Americans.

 

Date and source of poll?

I think this book helps him. It takes him off the hook for yet another occurrence during his presidency. Gates is a genius.

Obama has and had a problem. He opposed the Iraq war and contrasted it to the Afghanistan war to make a point in 2002 because at that time Americans supported the Afghanistan war. So his initial support was on record. He opposed the surge in Iraq and it worked. He kept Gates on because of that and was terrified of making any more wrong calls on wars (obviously) but that left him timid. So when he approved of escalating the Afghanistan war, he probably didn't believe in it but also didn't trust his own judgement on wars due to no experience whatsoever and not knowing who to trust.

After the killing of Osama (and even before that strategically but I am speaking politically) there is no justification for such high troop levels in Afghanistan. This is a different war completely won with a different type of strategy than Iraq and Obama staying in a losing strategy for so long is a huge mistake.

 

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That you don't shows once again how lost you and your ilk are. MCMARK

I actually though thumbs was kidding with this post.

Wow!!!

The most charitable I can be, is that Thumbs has gotten totally confused and doesn't know where to turn as he has become disillusioned with his life time of support for the traditional GOP.

 

CBS: "Do you think Hillary Clinton would make a good president?"

Gates: "Actually, I think she would."

 

Case closed unless thumbs was talking about Gates affecting Clinton and Obama positively.

 

I think you have a strange interpretation of very recent history.

 

I think your interpretation of my sig is also very strange.