Gates in trouble with GOP?
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 12:36pm
Until now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been Washington's bipartisan heartthrob. But as he settles in with the new administration, suspicion is growing among his old Republican buddies. There is growing belief on the right that President Obama will use him for political cover to slash weapons programs and the defense budget. Push may come to shove next week if Gates rolls out his tough choices, which likely will cause great pain in parts of the Navy and Air Force -- and in congressional districts that bend metal for warships and fighter planes.
Here is how my old friend (and uber-hawk) Tom Donnelly of the militarily promiscuous AEI puts it:
Obama is going to be cutting defense budgets (and we shall see what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan) and Gates gives him top cover that no Dem can give. Obama needs Gates through this year's budget, the QDR process and the 2011 budget-build, and these are difficult defense issues that matter a lot more than gays or satisfying any of the party constituencies, because they could jeopardize Obama's domestic priorities. Gates, for reasons that I cannot quite figure out, has agreed to this Faustian bargain." My bet is that Gates will stay on until about this time next year, and leave when the QDR (Quadrennial Defense Review) is done. By then, I predict, Republicans will be crying, "Bobby, we hardly knew ye."
more at:
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/03/gates_in_trouble_with_gop