(Sec Defense) Gates agrees to stay on under Obama

[sabra]

Source: Politico

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as secretary of State, officials said.

Retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, former Marine commandant and commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, will be named national security adviser, the officials said.

The national security adviser heads the National Security Council, which is the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy, and varies in influence from presidency to presidency. Jones insisted on – and got – a commanding role, the sources said.

Democrats familiar with the national-security event early next week said they also expect James B. Steinberg, who was deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, to be named deputy secretary of State; Susan Rice, Obama’s senior foreign policy adviser on the campaign, to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; and retired Navy Admiral Dennis C. Blair, the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command and a veteran of the NSC, Central Intelligence Agency and Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be named the director of national intelligence.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15986.html

[onehandle]

1. And then, Defense Secretary Wesley Clark. May 2, 2010. nt

[theboss]

18. Is there one record of a conversation between Clark and Obama?

I don't get this belief that Obama wants Clark.

[tuckessee]

30. LOL! Pollyanna, is that you? n/t

[ixion]

2. change... not so much

[jrockford]

17. Sucks, I know, but what did you really expect? I was more voting AGAINST McCain anyway. nt

[amitta]

3. so Obama thinks Dems are weak on defense

disgusting.

[gcomeau]

6. I want to post something...

...suitably derogatory regarding the lack of intelligence required to make that remark.. but I'm honestly drawing a blank. "Idiot" just doesn't do the job...

[unkachuck]

26. I think you're right....

....what would be wrong with Congressman John Murtha being Secretary of Defense?....the Congressman genuinely loves and respects the enlisted man/woman....

[davidinalameda]

33. Murtha's MO is open mouth, insert foot

he's done way too much damage to himself-he'd be eaten alive and that's a distraction that Obama does NOT need

[JudyInTheHeartland]

4. but.... but.... but..... (n/t)

[lebkuchen]

5. get rid of those who served, and continue to serve, at Rummy's pleasure

get rid of them now rather than later

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[desktop]

8. This is a bad move, Obama is showing he's the politician that I thought he was

Gates may be better than some Republicans, but make no mistake, he is a Republican through and through, directly out of Texas A&M University. This is the worst move Obama has made.

[Solly Mack]

9. ...

...

Can't wait to hear the talk tomorrow...(I live on a military post)...should be uh..good.

[JudyInTheHeartland]

10. self-delete

[Vidar]

11. I'm very sorry to hear this. Wesley Clark or even Colin Powell would have been so much better.

[janedum]

12. FCC chairman is who I'm looking forward to ...

FINE Hannity, Limbaugh and the rest under the TRUTH in Media bill, and then get them OFF the air!

[mithnanthy]

15. I agree janedum...

I'm anxious to see who FCC Chairman will be. I want someone as FAIR as Kucinich can be.

[Vidar]

36. If only!! I like Obama, but I've pretty much given up on real

courage to confront evildoers from the democrats, with the obvious exceptions of Dennis Kucinich & Russ Feingold. (Yes, I know there are some others, but Pelosi et al won't let them rock the boat.)

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Clark can't have the post until 10 years after he retired from the military

which I think is the message of reply #1. Whether or not this really is to keep Gates in until Clark is eligible, I don't know.

[Vidar]

35. Thanks for the info; I was unaware of that.

[scytherius]

14. And Obama runs the show. I trust him. This is no biggie. n/t

nt

[Mari333]

28. not if obama backs gates new plan to send 20,000 troops to afghanistan

and it looks like he does

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

very bad all around.

[DumpDavisHogg]

16. Screw this, I'm finished with this party

We spend all this effort to put a Democrat in the White House, and this is what happens.

At least Cynthia McKinney never would have reappointed ROBERT FREAKIN' GATES!!!

[theboss]

19. Gates has been the one good thing about the Bush Administration...next to t-ball

The Pentagon is actually running like a sane place at the moment.

Keeping him there for a year sends a message that

a) he is not going to gut defense, and
b) he is not going to do anything rash involving Iraq or Afghanistan.

[DumpDavisHogg]

21. Gates wanted to bomb NICARAGUA, of all places!

Nicaragua???

What did Nicaragua ever do???

[theboss]

22. That was in 1984

And we compromised four years later and bombed Panama instead.

[dflprincess]

23. If you ignore that he was G.H.W. Bush's CIA Director and the whole Iran Contra thing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates

Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is currently serving as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense. He took office on December 18, 2006.<1> Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence. Before he joined the CIA, he served with the United States Air Force (USAF).<2> After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates also served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton, that has studied the Iraq War. He was also the first pick to serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security when it was created following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but he declined the appointment in order to remain President of Texas A&M University.<3>...

Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA) in early 1987. He withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra affair.

Gates was Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from March until August 1989, and was Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser from August 1989 until November 1991.

Gates was nominated (for the second time) for the position of Director of Central Intelligence by President George H. W. Bush on May 14, 1991, confirmed by the Senate on November 5, and sworn in on November 6, becoming the only career officer in the CIA's history (as of 2005) to rise from entry-level employee to Director.

The final report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, issued on August 4, 1993, said that Gates "was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. The evidence developed by Independent Counsel did not warrant indictment..."

[marasinghe]

25. who woulda thunk it; with 'old uncle tim geithner and all'.

puke. and this is a joke on us, right: ".. Geithner worked for Kissinger & Associates .."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Geithner
quote-
... After completing his studies, Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1988. He was deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy (1995–1996), senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs (1996-1997), assistant secretary for international affairs (1997–1998).<5>

... He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.<5> Summers was his mentor,<9> but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.<10><11><12>

... In March 2008, he arranged the rescue and sale of Bear Stearns<9><16> and later, in the same year, he is believed to have played a pivotal role in both the decision to bail out AIG as well as the government decision not to save Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy.<17> As a Treasury official, he helped manage multiple international crises of the 1990s<11> in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand.<12>

On November 24, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Geithner to be Treasury Secretary.<2><18>

Geithner believes, along with Henry Paulson, that the Treasury Department needs new authority to experiment with responses to the financial crisis of 2008.<9> Paulson has described Geithner as " very unusually talented young man... understands government and understands markets."<16>
-unquote

[RufusTFirefly]

20. Repeat after me: "America is a center-right nation"

America is a center-right nation
America is a center-right nation
America is a center-right nation
America is a center-right nation



Repeat the same lie over and over again enough times and most people will wind up believing it.

I mean, why shouldn't Obama choose to retain the Secretary of Defense from the worst administration in living memory?
I'm sure this makes sense to all those fine people out there who can be made to bark like dogs or can be convinced that they are chickens.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. AARRRGGGGGGH!

I heard this on the Japanese news tonight and I was hoping it wasn't true.

This is no place for bi-fucking-partisanship.

I thought we had an election to get rid of these bastards.

[LibDemAlways]

40. Couldn't agree more. If I wanted

Gates or a Gates clone at DoD I'd have voted for McCain.

This is a big FU to the voters.

[Mari333]

27. oh hell no...

Gates wants a troop surge in Afghanistan. on this one issue, Obama and Gates are wrong.
'The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said Friday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he and top commanders had discussed sending five brigades to Afghanistan, including four brigades of combat ground forces as well as an aviation brigade, which a defense official said would consist mainly of support troops. An Army combat brigade has about 3,500 soldiers.

Gates said much of the infusion could take place before Afghanistan holds elections by next autumn.

"I think it's important that we have a surge of forces before the election," said Gates, who stressed no decision on troop deployments had been taken..."'


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[saigon68]

29. Why bother with elections ?

Just reappoint the Drug lords, militias and the Mayor of Kabul and the rest of the puppets.

Its far cheaper-- and you must admit these vassals are compliant.

[Mari333]

31. keeping the OIL corporations happy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[rocktots]

32. Good move

Basicly, we have someone with experience in a HAWK role, shores up the hawks a bit. Can't have ex-hippies running this.

Its not a political position.

Although ALOT of the left is pissed off at ALOT of the appointees, it may prove to be the smart move in the long run. Remember, Biden stated that they are expecting 'something big' within the first year. They know things we don't.

[mdmc]

34. beat

[Mari333]

37. tell that to the troops

who have been sent over and over and over to these occupations of other countries merely to protect the oil interests of big corporations. we are not there for any other reason. we have been setting up puppet governments for decades in countries that we have $$$ vested corporate interests in.
its time the united states changed its vision from a militaristic chest thumping adolescent nation to a nation that symbolizes peace.
until then, we are a target because of our militaristic policies and we only jeapordize ourselves.
bring the troops home.

[humbled_opinion]

38. You can't be serious!

Change is what is required. Bush Lite is not change. Most people don't even understand the truth of the issues and are just taking the position that Obama is our man and he has A (D) next to his name so it must be good.

The Right is chomping at the bit to rape Obama, but timing is everything in politics. The progression of the fall

1. You lose the media.
2. Political opposition Hammers your strengths.
3. loss of credibility
4. Your closest allies become your enemies.

Its gonna happen.

[Mari333]

39. I understand that people are glad Bush is gone,

and so am I. heck, I was very happy to see the Obama win. I voted for him.
That does not mean I have to agree with him now. Nor does that mean I will agree with his admin on issues that especially pertain to the warmongering thats been going on.
Obama's stance on afghanistan has been wrong and will continue to be wrong. with Gates in there I expect nothing but the same warmongering we have been subject to for the last 7 yrs.
If Obama continues on this path I will be the first to criticize him.
He is not the king, he is a politician that we chose to work for the people of the United States, not for the corporate class only.
In other words, he works for US.
we pay his salary.
WE the people are actually the government, not them. They work for us.
its our responsibility to question them, and question their motives and policies.
These wars must end, and soon.

[humbled_opinion]

41. True...

He did have some awesome Campaign Rhetoric... lets both take a wait and see approach... I just don't want the Right to have any ammunition.