BREAKING: Former CIA Director Robert Gates replaces Rumsfeld...

[PistolSteve]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15622266/

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a key target of Iraq war critics, is stepping down, Republican officials said on Wednesday.

Former CIA Director Robert Gates will replace him, Republican officials said.

[PistolSteve]

1. kick nt

[PistolSteve]

2. So what do we know about Gate?!?

[mnmoderatedem]

23. He's a "longtime friend of the Bush family"

thus his appointment...

[acmavm]

3. Toooooo Late. You cost the repubs big time Rummy. You

and george & Dick.

This is almost poetic justice.

[never_get_over_it]

6. Kind of like

closing the barn door after the horses got out.....

[AlCzervik]

4. from Wiki

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

[JackBeck]

5. I can't believe how fast that went up.

[Radio_Lady]

9. Me, either. This didn't just happen today. It must have been in the works for longer than that.

[AlCzervik]

10. gotta love "The internets"

[jackstraw45]

7. Iran Contra figure....great.

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_16.htm

[Reverend_Smitty]

12. well it figures with them...what else would you expect?

[AlCzervik]

13. he'll have to be approved by a democratically controlled congress.

[Hav]

8. .

Better him than Lieberman I guess :/.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. They knew their reign of terror was over

All the talk of rebounding in the polls was BS, they knew and had this all planned out.

[Radio_Lady]

16. Must have known. Brief Gates Information here:

Chapter 16
Robert M. Gates

Robert M. Gates was the Central Intelligence Agency's deputy director for intelligence (DDI) from 1982 to 1986. He was confirmed as the CIA's deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) in April of 1986 and became acting director of central intelligence in December of that same year. Owing to his senior status in the CIA, 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 of Gates for his Iran/contra activities or his responses to official inquiries.

The Investigation


Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel's investigation, but the investigation of Gates intensified in the spring of 1991 as part of a larger inquiry into the Iran/contra activities of CIA officials. This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991, when President Bush nominated Gates to be director of central intelligence (DCI). The chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) requested in a letter to the Independent Counsel on May 15, 1991, any information that would ``significantly bear on the fitness'' of Gates for the CIA post.

Grand Jury secrecy rules hampered Independent Counsel's response. Nevertheless, in order to answer questions about Gates' prior testimony, Independent Counsel accelerated his investigation of Gates in the summer of 1991. This investigation was substantially completed by September 3, 1991, at which time Independent Counsel determined that Gates' Iran/contra activities and testimony did not warrant prosecution.1

1 Independent Counsel made this decision subject to developments that could have warranted reopening his inquiry, including testimony by Clair E. George, the CIA's former deputy director for operations. At the time Independent Counsel reached this decision, the possibility remained that George could have provided information warranting reconsideration of Gates's status in the investigation. George refused to cooperate with Independent Counsel and was indicted on September 19, 1991. George subpoenaed Gates to testify as a defense witness at George's first trial in the summer of 1992, but Gates was never called.

[Cooley Hurd]

14. At least it wasn't Lieberman!

...I was half-expecting it as a hail-mary for control of the senate...

[Phillycat]

15. Well, this is telling:

Gates became the 22nd President of Texas A&M University on August 1, 2002 following a tenure as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001. He has served as a member of the board of trustees of The Fidelity Funds, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc. He also served as President of the National Eagle Scout Association during the mid-2000s.

[Catchawave]

18. Another chickenhawk crone ?

We'll have to check his donation history too :evilgrin:

[delete_bush]

19. At least a better sense of humor than Rummy,

(OK, Rummy has none)

"Speaking to you all again is a bit like being Larry King's newest wife-- I know what I'm supposed to do here, I'm just not sure how to make it interesting."

[Hubert Flottz]

17. Bob Gates will be handy when Bush decides to dissolve our

government and turn the Armed forces loose on the US to quiet the citizens uprisings.

[rman]

20. what, for real?

i guess so. ain't that something.

[GliderGuider]

21. Think W got slapped upside the head by James Baker III?

This has all the earmarks of a directive from on high. W got a visit from the consigliere.

[Dr. Death]

22. Gates became President at Texas A&M while I was there

doing my PhD. I don't know much about him, really, but I don't believe that he's as complete an a-hole as Rummy. He seemed like the kind of guy who would listen to what others say, at least while he was a university president.

Please note that this is NOT an endorsement of anyone that this administration would choose. I'm only saying that he's likely to be easier to work with than Rumsfeld.