Former spy chief takes over Pentagon

[DoYouEverWonder]

Dec 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - Robert Gates assumed the helm at the Pentagon on Monday, saying Iraq is his top priority and warning that failure there would be a "calamity" that would haunt the United States for many years.

"All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again," Gates said after taking the oath of office as defense secretary from Vice President
Dick Cheney at a Pentagon ceremony. "But as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East. Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come."

Gates said he intends to travel to Iraq soon to hear the views of U.S. commanders on how to improve the situation, "unvarnished and straight from the shoulder." The remarks seemed to contrast with critics' complaints that the man he replaced, Donald H. Rumsfeld, did not listen enough to the advice of the military's top officers.

President Bush called Gates, 63, "the right man" for the multiple challenges the face in Iraq and in the global war on terrorism.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gatesFormer spy chief takes over Pentagon


More like the right man to cover up Bush's lies and crimes.

[ReadTomPaine]

1. He's going to avoid another Vietnam no matter how many more US troops he must kill

Except, of course, it's already another Vietnam.

[coalition_unwilling]

3. It's Vietnam on crack! n/t

[Mist]

2. In the reality-based community, it IS a failure and a calamity. nt

[rodeodance]

4. New Pentagon chief warns of calamity in Iraq (& can NOT fail in Iraq)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061218/ts_nm/usa_pentagon_gates_dc_3

New Pentagon chief warns of calamity in Iraq

By Kristin Roberts 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Gates, sworn in as U.S. defense secretary on Monday, said he understood the desire to bring troops home from
Iraq but that failure would be a "calamity" that haunts and threatens America for decades.


"All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again. But, as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East," Gates said at the Pentagon.

"Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility and endanger Americans for decades to come," he said.

The 63-year-old former CIA director acknowledged during his Senate confirmation hearings in December that the United States was not winning in Iraq, but said it was not losing either.

[mike_c]

5. not winning, but not losing either....

Another asshole with his head stuck in the spin zone.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. Same message used to justify continuing our involvement in

southeast Asia (aka Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) after '68 Tet. Of course, we could follow former Vt. Senator George Aiken's dictum and simply "Declare victory and get out."

[KansDem]

17. I remember that: "Peace with Honor" become the mantra...

Gawd, how I got so sick and tired of hearing that bromide night after night!

[rodeodance]

7. He must have tired of the word 'chaos"------clamamity does have more

charm to it.

[Drum]

18. Yes, and I am quite prepared to refer to W

as "Calamity George"---or should that be "Kalamity"?---for the rest of his life, as no doubt will the rest of us including his family.

[tularetom]

8. We've already "failed" we're just staying to assuage egos now

There aren't words to describe how pissed I'd be if my son or daughter were among those troops to be "surged" to Iraq so that bush can still look at himself in the mirror and pretend he's a big soldier. But what HE needs to realize is that it's too late and it won't get any better and he can't possibly keep up this charade for another two years so he can dump it in somebody else's lap. The only hope is for him to fnally be a man and admit he's fucked up and change course now.

[angstlessk]

9. If it is that goddamned important send the bush family over, raise the taxes

on the fucking rich and start a mutherfucking draft...AND GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YER ASS!

[AndyTiedye]

30. Be Careful What You Ask For. You Might Get It

start a mutherfucking draft

That is exactly what they want to do, but they need to do it in such a way that the Democrats get blamed for it.
Unfortunately, some Democrats are making it easy for them.

[jazzjunkysue]

10. Titanic Press Sec. : "We're not sinking, but we're not floating, either."

That's clear.

[BOSSHOG]

11. "wants to find a way to bring out kids home??"

Make it happen, its really quite simple. You and your kind have fucked up big time gates. FAILURE ACCOMPLISHED. And you and the worthless shit in the oval office are too damned proud to admit it. The republican plan - leave our kids in harm's way until they are all dead. That's it. And its cosmically supported by the ever shrinking bush base. They should hang along with the fuckers.

[dos pelos]

23. And where is the Democratic resistance?Nowhere.

The ,"ever shrinking Bush base", is no longer the problem here.The problem is the willing acquiescence of the Democratic leadership in this disaster.Reid says a few more months.Kennedy mildly disagrees.Clinton(ugh) says no more troops.The will of the people,clearly expressed in the recent election,is that the war should be brought to an end.The power base in Washington,the republicrat entrenched old guard corporate water carriers,are busy trying to complete this botched blood-for-oil resource grab.What is the difference between the Republican and Democratic leadership here?Very little.These people are Quislings,they IGNORE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

[Vincardog]

12. "Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation,

and endanger Americans for decades to come," he said.

AS opposed to shipping our troops to Iraq to impair our credibility destroy our image, inflame the rage of muslims and die for decades to come," ?

Bull Shit. Bring them home NOW.

[Disturbed]

15. Station enough Troops to defend the Iraqi oil fields and

bring the others back to America to work on re-building and protecting America.

[Vincardog]

22. Bring them all home NOW. End the illegal occupation NOW.

[Barrett808]

24. This rhetoric ignores two facts: It already is a calamity, and we have already failed

It's all over but the crying.

[jaxx]

13. So we're staying the course.

No surprise there. It makes me sick that the bush adm will continue to lie and kill.....and get by with it.

[BonnieJW]

14. THIS is why * needs to be impeached!

He's not going to end this war, no matter what anyone or any group reports. He's going to keep feeding it with everything he can send over there. There will have to be a draft and the dems will get the blame for it since they held power.

[gasperc]

16. yeah, uh about 36 months tooo late

clusterfuck's have a funny way of creepy up on you after two election cycles, a president, vice-president and defense secretary that have skulls made of solid fucking granite. and when people were howling for changes, 36, 24, 12, 6 AND months ago, NOT A FUCKING THING CHANGED. So Fuck you Bob. Tell us why we really invaded Iraq and tells us why we are really there,

OTHERWISE, GO FUCK YOURSELF WITH AN UNSANDED 4X4!!!!!


'KAY

[MannyGoldstein]

19. The Saudis Have Spoken

Through their spokesperson.

[stormymonday]

20. I think the 'calamity' was invading in the first place.

[antiimperialist]

25. Exactly

It's called Karma. If you invade a country based on lies and force hundreds of thousands to flee their homes and kill hundreds of thousands, you can't expect anything other than payback from God.

[NRaleighLiberal]

21. Republican logic - we have failed, but we cannot fail. Get it?

Can these slimeballs EVER tell the truth about anything?

[bemildred]

26. More non-sense from our spineless, craven leaders.

Sanity BEGINS with the understanding that you CAN fail, that failure is likely. All this exceptionalism is a slam-dunk recipe for failure in everything you do. Hubris invites failure. Nemesis is coming.

[Jazzgirl]

27. The US has no credibility and the danger is already there.

This is a crock of #@($!! We failed when we attacked them and its already a "calamity" that will haunt us for the rest of our lives, just like Viet Nam! I knew he would be more of the same old same old....

[anotherdrew]

28. the only way we fail is if we stay n/t

well, discounting all the things we've ALREADY failed.

[all.of.me]

29. do we have any credibility to impair?!

[daleo]

31. He might as well re-invade Viet Nam then

We heard all this 35 years ago.

[LynnTheDem]

32. Too late.

Lost the day America launced an illegal supreme crime hitleresque war of choice aggression against a nation that hadn't been doing one damn thing to anyone.

Hitler's Germany lost.

bush's America lost.

[Solly Mack]

33. Same shit - different day - said by the same old thugs over and over

Iraq was a failure and a calamity from the get-go

There is no winning, succeeding, or victory to be had in Iraq and there never will be - not by America.


Iraq will only haunt the nation because America invaded Iraq for lies and trumped up "evidence" to begin with....no invasion + no war crimes = no haunting <- really just that simple

Iraq should haunt America...it was and remains criminal and the war criminals at the top have not been held accountable.

America is a war crime nation - war crime nations don't have any credibility to impair.

Bush - and those who have enabled Bush - and continue to enable Bush - have made Americans less safe. It's all on him...and them.