Comments on: Bob Gates, America's Secretary Of War

60 Minutes: Secretary Of Defense Robert Gates Talks About Iraq, Afghanistan And His Job

[cattiej]

correction...we are going to have to bring our troops home to protect us from all the countries and people of these countries who Hate America and Americans.

[searingtruth]

"And so we marched to war.
Forever.
While there were few wars to be fought."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[cattiej]

How could all the reporters interview Osama Bin Laden and Bush was unable to....because Bush didn't want to capture him...then the illegal war would be over and Halburton wouldn't have made billions of dollars. Does anyone know if Cheney is back on board of Halburton company??? What a bunch of idiots running our country into the ground. No wonder our young people have no respect for the U.S. government, I don't either and I am in my 70's..I especially think Pelosi is a lier. Why did Obama keep Gates on the payroll??? What is Obama trying to prove by bringing Republicans on board?? He will be sorry he did because they will use every trick in the book to get him out of office in 2012. By then our country will be in such a deep depression finincially that we will never, ever recover..Obama was right when he said it's going to get worse before it gets better and it is continuing to get worse.

[vuenbelvue]

written by JD1035834 on 5/17/09

I have been in Iraq for several years and I am here right now writing this. Every one here is certain that after June 30 Iraq will erupt into a civil war soon after. The biggest problem is that the Iraqi people do not posses the means or the will to police themselves.

The Iraqi army is divided into many factions and controlled by individual generals through out Iraq and are only loosely controlled by the Iraqi government here. Each general has his own loyal people (most from his own tribe) and his own supply of weapons and equipment.

The Iraqi police are the same way, different divisions in different provinces have their own ideas about who controls what and who they consider as criminals.

the statement I read from one the above comments, "the majority of muslim world does want to believe in the "american ideal" of democracy", is total BS. I know these people very well and I can tell you that they do not want democracy or anything that has to do with Americans, Muslims see us as the infidel and therefore the enemy, they are more than willing to die in the name of Allah if they can take some of the evil Americans with them. Read the Qua-ran and see what it says and you will be appalled at what you read.

Anyone should be able to believe whatever they want to unless it advocates violence or harms others just because they don't want to believe the same thing.

These are not the kind of people who will be kind to you if you are kind to them, their religion and culture will not allow that kind of thinking and it has been drilled into their heads from birth.

They distrust their own people and argue over trivial points of their own religious beliefs, they are willing to kill each other over these very trivial differences and have committed unspeakable atrocities in the name of Allah.

After June 30 they will have to rely more on their own currency because less US currency will be available to them. The Iraqi Dinar is literally not worth the paper it is printed on. this alone will cause rioting when they are forced to take a grocery bag of money to buy a loaf of bread.

The government here is divided and can't agree on much of anything, some want the US to remain in the cities to help the local forces keep the peace, others want the US out so that they have more control of US funds that are being spent here, most of which will wind up in the pockets of the members of the iraqi government.

Iraq is a mess and pulling back now will cause a lot of damage, until the iraqi people drop the idea the the Islamic way is the only way then they can not be trusted and they can not run their own country with any degree of success at all.

I would agree that you have to win the minds and hearts of the people but in order to do that you must occupy the conquered country for some time before it will happen. You cannot put a timeline on winning the hearts and minds.

[cattiej]

Bob Gates is a lier. We are fighting an unjust, illegal war. Soon we will have our young men "drafted again" The Selective Serivce Boards are ready to open their doors. Then perhaps the American public will demand that our troops be sent home. We are going to need them to protect our borders from all the people who have come to have Americans and America because of Bush and Cheney and their illegal war in Iraq. The only WMD's were Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfield,Gonzalez and the rest of the "gas house gang" in Washington. Obama doesn't want them brought to trial. Obama, I want my vote back. You are just as bad as Bush and Pelosi, all of you are lying to the America citizens.

[hermitdave]

WELL BOB I hate to say this, but if you did not pick up on the massive lies of Rummy and the rest of the Bush crime family when you took over his job, you should not be qualified to be county dog catcher. Please explain why it was necessary to attack Afghanistan looking for ONE MAN. Apparently Rummy and the gang did not know the CIA had a vast network of covert operatives who could have captured Osama Bin Laden. In fact he was a former operative. So are we to assume you saw no problem with giving up looking for Osama and started slaughtering innocent women AND CHILDREN IN iRAQ. Come on Bob please don't tell me you believe Saddam had any WMD's that Ronnie and Rummy didn't sell him. I will say that you are not even close to the master lying BS of Rummy. Oh and yes I know why you could never admit any of this, so NEVER MIND.

[pkstone]

One can argue all day long about the war but can Katie Couric ask a good question? She is the only reporter who continues to have a job but cannot ask an intelligent question. She should go back to the dumb blonde on the Today Show.

[matthvm]

Did I hear this guy that the NATO partners in Afghanistan are not pulling their weight ? What bunch of bunk .
Tell this to the the families of the Canadian soldiers who give their lives . If America was not busy chasing red herrings in Iraq the real war would have been ended a long time ago . Bill Gates needs to rephrase the statement that Canada has been doing MORE than its fair share . Maybe 60 minutes should investigate the price Canada is paying for Americas absence in Afghanistan in those years .

[BC Kelly]

fred-man says ...

By calling himself the "Secretary of War", Gates is admitting his failure.


**********************************

Sorry, wrong

The failure was Rumsfeld, and Bush, et al

Gates was called in to try to clean up the mess

Do a wiki/google on Gates - very distinguished career

And very intelligent of our Current Administration to keep aboard such a Great American

[claydowner]

Secretary Gates has been one of our best Defense Secretaries in at least a generation. The man is unassuming but a Russian history scholar. I respect him greatly for changing the culture in the Pentagon away from convention Cold War era weapons systems towards more of a counterinsurgency type of force structure. We of course have to still have conventional capabilities but more resources for Predator, Reaper and other drone planes and Special Forces units is critical to our strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Brush fire wars do not have much of a constituency in Congress but unneeded Cold war era weapons programs like the F-22 often do. Look at the awful problems the Army and Marine Corps had in getting MRAP (mine resistant armored vehicle) vehicles to keep soldiers and Marines safer from roadside bombs. So often programs like the F-22 get spread out to 45 states and get a life of their own in Congress. Secretary Gates has stood up to the military industrial complex with entrenched corporate lobbyists. You have to respect him for his courage and his looking out for soldiers in the field. The soldier in the field should always be first in priorities not corporate special interest lobbyists proposing Cold War era weapons systems for conventional wars we are increasingly unlikely to ever fight. Secretary Gates should be honored for his humility and courage for public service. Putting soldiers and warfighters in the field first should not be such a problem but in Washington soldiers and warfighters do not have much of a special interest lobby in Congress despite speeches by politicians at parades. Mr. Gates looks out for ordinary soldiers on patrol every single day. He does not let his position go to his head. He feels sorry for the casualties that come home from the war zone. He has saved hundreds of American lives by his leadership in ordering MRAPs and incorporating drone planes in the brushfire wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. God bless this humble and noble public servant.

[searingtruth]

"We shall force peace upon them."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[vhammon]

Katie, I hope you will take the time to watch Bill Moyers interview last friday with two experts on Pakistan. They had a perspective that has been missing from the mainstream media. It would be a shame to once again beat the drums of fear, and keep the focus on military solutions, when these are perpetually self-defeating in the long run. When will we ever learn?

[Honorplease]

When you go to war, it means you have ALREADY failed to protect yourself. By calling himself the "Secretary of War", Gates is admitting his failure.

Gates should be retired.
Posted by fred-mann

You,are Dumb like Monkey !!

[Honorplease]

What a great man !!
I'm glad he's watching over our troops.

[searingtruth]

"A peoples revolution cannot be won by a foreign army."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[wogerwabbit]

Afghanistan, where empires go to die.

[BC Kelly]

"Secretary of War"


In our Land of Celebrity, Talking Head Journalism, and Chicken Hawk Politicians

How refreshing to hear someone use real language and authentic words

[searingtruth]

"Betrayed

Fellow citizens, too many times history records a deserving people fundamentally betrayed.

And so stands America today.

Promised protection from a brutal hand that stilled us all, we are delivered the same brutal hand in a velvet glove.

Promised deliverance from unjust war without end, we are presented the same war as just without end.

Promised a society where all who labored were justly rewarded, we continue to reward the rich at all cost while forsaking the common no matter the price.

And promised the restoration of our Constitution, we are left with it tattered and torn in our hands.

Yes indeed.

Barack Obama has betrayed us all.

And the sooner we come to grips with his treason, the sooner we can work together towards his and the Democrats and Republicans defeat, and nothing less than the restoration of America itself."
ST's Blog, May 17, 2009


"Our last great hope is doing the same as our last great tyrant."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[Habu68]

I find it offensive that you would refer to the replacement of General David McKiernan as being fired. He served his country and his troops for more years than most Officers in uniform. He deserves more respect from all of us. Try being more respectful and less sensational for once. I hate the fact that this man is going to be remembered for this. Its discraceful that you feel the need to smear the man. Where is your compassion. Think of the feelings of others before you write and spew your words in the media.

[sjc_1]

Bush had wanted to take Iraq's oil all along and get even with Saddam. He was willing to lie, cheat and steal to do that and that is exactly what he did. It cost the American people 1000s of lives and billions of dollars, but he got what his oil friends wanted. It did not matter what the American people wanted.