Thursday, January 09, 2014

Ungrateful former Defense Secretary Robert Gates write book attacking President Obama and Vice President Biden.

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:  

President Barack Obama lacked belief in his administration's policy toward the war in Afghanistan and was skeptical it would even succeed, his former defense secretary, Robert Gates, writes in a memoir to be published next week. 

Gates, who served as Pentagon chief from 2006 to 2011 under Obama and his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, mixes strong praise with scathing criticism for Obama and his administration, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

Obama doubted his own policy after he decided to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan early in his first term, Gates wrote. The president became “skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail,” a stance that Gates says led him to consider resigning in September 2009. 

According to the Washington Post, Gates wrote that Obama "doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out." 

"I never doubted Obama's support for the troops, only his support for their mission," Gates writes.

Apparently that is supposed to be taken as a criticism, that the President did not have faith in the possibility of eradicating al-Qaeda. Which just about everybody who is not some neo-con dimwit would agree is impossible.

And no the war WASN'T President Obama's and who could blame him for not wanting to continue fighting what he realized was an endless war that would, and could, never achieve victory?

Gates also did not agree with Obama when it came to the Bin Laden mission: 

In one example of those differences, Gates called Obama’s decision to order the Bin Laden raid, despite doubts about whether the Al Qaeda founder was at the compound in Abbottabad, “one of the most courageous decisions I had ever witnessed in the White House.” 

Gates had favored using heavy bombers to obliterate the compound. The option was less risky because it did not involve putting troops on the ground, but might have left doubts about whether Bin Laden was in fact killed.

Gates was also served as George W. Bush's Secretary of Defense from 2006 until the end of his last term, and never even came close to killing or capturing Osama Bin Laden. Yet this failure has the audacity to express criticism at the President's successful plan for taking him out?

Fuck him!

Now you might think that the Obama administration would be firing back and attempting to destroy Gates credibility, but you would be wrong:

Obama "deeply appreciates" Gates' service as defense secretary, NSC spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement, and "welcomes differences of view among his national security team, which broaden his options and enhance our policies."

Yeah even when he is being stabbed in the back by somebody who he gave a job to against the wishes of those on the Left who did not trust ANYBODY who served with  George W. Bush has the class to respond politely instead of kicking his ungrateful ass all over the place.

No instead of defending himself, Obama is more concerned with how his friend Joe Biden has been portrayed: 

The White House is coming to Joe Biden's defense after ex Defense Secretary Robert Gates blasted the vice president for being "wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades" in his new memoir. 

But Obama came out to defend his No. 2, praising Biden as "one of the leading statesmen of his time" and assuring the public that the President "relies on his good counsel every day." 

"The President disagrees with Secretary Gates' assessment," National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said Tuesday in a statement. 

You know I believe that instead of this book making me think less of Barack Obama, it is actually making me feel prouder than ever that I supported him through two different campaigns. And continue to do so today.

46 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:14 AM

    Does anyone think that @sshole would ever admit he was wrong? Same goes for pissants Dubya and Cheney.

    As you said, Jesse, fuck him!

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  2. Anonymous4:14 AM

    I thought Mr. Gates had integrity. I was wrong. To write a book disrespecting the Commander in Chief, while he is still in office, is beyond the bounds of respect or decency. He could have waited until the President was out of office, but he chose not to. In doing so, his motives were, no doubt, purely political.
    I don't know why I'm surprised. After all, he is a republican and their EQs seems to be even lower than their IQs.

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    1. AKinPA7:55 AM

      I agree, Anon at 4:14. I can't believe he published such a critique while the President is still in office. I wonder if he includes a frank assessment of Bush's "strategery" too. Or is he just angling for a place in the 2016 clown car?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous4:16 AM

    Instead of "Duty" it should have been called "Doody". Because it's a bunch of crap.

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    1. Pfc. Beldar Comehead. 1st Air Cav, ret4:54 AM

      Anon 416am. I know it looks suspicious, but I posted my doodyful comment before reading yours. Great minds, huh?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous4:24 AM

    Gates is a life-long spook who has fed at the margins of the Bush crime family for the past 30 or 40 years. His job as it has always been is to embellish the Bush legacy. Serves stupid Obama right for keeping the SOB on the job. "Let's look forward, not back"

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  5. Anonymous4:35 AM

    We're also supposed to be horrified that Hillary admitted to having made a political decision when she was a senator.

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  6. angela4:45 AM

    When the Soviet Union finally crawled out of Afghanistan, almost bankrupt and having won NOTHING, that should have been the major sign that Afghanistan was not the place you'd want to wage any military conflict that you wanted to "win".
    Actually, this makes me respect the president even more too.
    He knew this was all just a waste of lives and treasure.

    And anyone who worked for W and thought he did something better isn't really to be listened to.

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    1. Anonymous5:12 AM

      Thank you for mentioning that, angela. When "the great decider" was lying through his teeth to start his little war game, that was my first thought. Did Russia not teach you ANYTHING? But he always "was" a dim bulb.

      Delete
    2. fromthediagonal6:19 AM

      Yes, Angela, there is good reason for the old adage: "Afghanistan is where Empires go to die".
      As President Obama was/is willing to draw lessons from the events of History since Alexander the Great, he truly is not merely a learned man and a thinking man, but more than that, an unusual politician. He has worked against great odds from the beginning, is continuing to do so with great tenacity against even greater malicious adversity and he has my admiration.

      Delete
  7. Gates seems to be a fan of Endless War, which of course benefits the MIC. When he goes out to dinner, it’s likely with Bush people rather than Obama people, and he seems tone-deaf to what the American citizens want now. Not that that crowd would care anyway.

    Too bad Christie and Ailes stole his thunder, but I’m sure the warmongers will buy up whole lots of this book and make it a bestseller, sigh.

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  8. Lt Col. Beldar Kilgore Comehead. 1sr Air Cav, ret4:49 AM

    Well, Mr. Fancy Pants Alaska librul blogger, if that's really your name, which I highly doubt, you can mark your calendar! That's right, buddy boy, it's all over!! Your so-called President Obama is resigning today!!

    According to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' new memoir, Obama has no choice but to step down due to the countless impeachable high crimes AND misdemeanors, also, too, documented in the book, entitled Doody: My Life In The Washington Shitstorm.

    The book proves, once and for all, that Obama is 'the worst presdient (sic) in the history of the world'. But the most egregious accusation comes in this paragraph, as quoted by the Washington Post: "the president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand [Afghanistan President Hamid] Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”

    WHAAAATTTTT????? HOPE AND CHANGE, MY BONY ASS!!!

    Now we know the rumors were all true: this Kenyum Muslin Socialist secretly wanted to end the longest war in Amercian history, didnt have a Bushy bromance with Hamid "Registered Dark-Gray-Market Military Surplus and Raw Poppy Dealer!" Karzai!!! and was suspicious of military leaders who claim they "love the smell of naplam in the morning because it smells like... victory" THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!! Is that Obama a traitor, or what!!

    Thank Zeus we still have patriots like Gates - who will soon take the presidency of The Boy Scouts (by force, if necessary) - prepared to attack sitting wartime presidents from the safety and comfort of a possibly ghost-written memoir. ($25.29, hardcover at Amazon, free 2 day shipping with Prime membership)

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    1. Anonymous5:18 AM

      The Boy Scouts? That would make him a supporter of the (gasp) GHEYS! Well, if it's good for the doody, forget the Supreme Court! GHEY marriage in every state because he said so!

      Delete
  9. Sally in MI4:59 AM

    Didn't he have mostly praise for Hillary? If anyone would have dirt on her and be willing to spill it, outbound be weasel Gates. So she must have done a fantastic job for him to be praising her. That must anger Preibus and anyone thinking they have a,shot at her in 2016.
    As for what he said about a sitting President, his boss, he should be ashamed. I thought the meme was never to badmouth a President in wartime. Oh right. Only a Republican because he might get his feelings hurt.

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    1. Maple5:57 AM

      Mostly praise for Hillary, and all darts for Joe. Hmmm, is he starting Hillary's campaign for Democratic nominee?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous5:10 AM

    God help us. This Gates nonsense is going to be the beginning of the 2016 campaign. As if Dick Cheney was a real expert at international relations: start a war, any war, was his philosophy and his knave, George, just went along. Joe Biden, having been a senator for decades, knows a lot more about foreign policy that retired Robert Gates ever forgot. I think that both President Obama and Vice President Biden have done a great job. I've never felt nervous about the future of mankind while they've been in charge. Remember, Mr. Gates, under whose watch 9/11 happened. Remember, Mr. Gates, that they had been warned about it. Remember, Mr. Gates, that Iraq should never have been invaded - except that it was part of Cheney's "energy policy."
    Beaglemom

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  11. Anonymous5:17 AM

    ""According to the Washington Post, Gates wrote that Obama "doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out." ""

    As far as I'm concerned, this comment is a plus for Obama. People voted for Obama to get us out of the idiotic wars that Bush/Cheney started. There never was and never will be a possibility of the U.S. winning a war in the mid-east. It has been a waste of lives and a waste of money.

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    1. Anonymous7:59 AM

      We should have gotten out a long time ago. Like 2010. Maybe then more of my son's pals would be alive or not sick with PTSS, TBI, vertigo, tinnitus, and other ailments. To see part of his generation literally lost to any life kills part of my soul daily. I blame everyone who either started this mess or allowed it to continue.
      Oh and Gates, he is just trying to remain relevant and resurrect whatever lame assed legacy he thinks he can. Loser from day one.

      Delete
  12. Yeah, and everything went so very well under Dubya, right?

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  13. Anonymous6:20 AM

    I groaned when I read the headline, thinking, oh great, yet another person bashing our President.

    However, after reading the whole post, I came away thinking that this makes Gates look like a complete asshole, and makes me continue to respect our President, because he sticks to his values.

    And I'm glad he had doubts about sending the troops to war. As much as the Repubs try to make that viewpoint look weak, I want any President to question whether it's right. Any person who sends our young people into war without a second thought (hello, looking at YOU, Bush and Cheney), has no moral/ethical fiber.

    R in NC

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    1. Anonymous9:07 AM

      The Republicans were happy to be in our wars and continually want to spread it even more in the middle east. John McCain leading the pack!!!

      President Obama is stopping the ones we are currently in and did not agree to go into Syria even though the Republican guys were pushing him like crazy.

      President Obama campaigned against war and the American population does not want war....we are sick and tired of it and it's horribly costly as to manpower and money!

      I'm so thankful President Obama is at the helm and not any of these idiot Republicans!

      Delete
  14. Anonymous6:28 AM

    Did Gates just drop a BabyRuth in the WH pool?
    Maybe the book is called.... Doody.
    Love those movie refs.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous7:06 AM

    Even Fox News considers Mr. Gates's book to be a betrayal of the President.

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  16. "instead of defending himself, Obama is more concerned with how his friend Joe Biden has been portrayed"

    Neither one needs a defense. Gates' reckless 'critique' should be considered a badge of honor for President Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous8:24 AM

    Robert Gates Memoir Backfires On Obama Criticisms

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/robert-gates-obama_n_4563743.html

    Bob Woodward Shows His Anti-Obama Bias

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116127/robert-gates-memoirs-criticism-obama-not-what-bob-woodward-says

    The Robert Gates Books Shows Exactly Why Obama Is a Good President

    http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/08/robert-gates-books-shows-obama-good-president.html

    In Defense of Obama on the Gates Memoir

    Consider first what the memoir says about Gates himself. Criticism of a sitting president from a former Cabinet member is rare and should be taken with a grain of salt. In a breach of propriety that raises questions about his integrity, the excerpts reveal Gates to be surprisingly petty at times, such as when he complains about spending cuts at the Pentagon and the lack of notice about Obama's decision to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays serving in the military.

    Then remember why Obama was elected in 2008. He reflected the nation's ambivalence toward war, promising to pull out of Iraq and wean Afghanistan from U.S. dependence. His predecessor, President George W. Bush, waged war on Iraq under false pretenses and with a lack of skepticism toward neoconservatives in his war Cabinet, led by Vice President Dick Cheney. Initially, anyway, he deferred to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his generals. Famously calling himself "The Decider," Bush rarely revisited a decision, and earned a reputation for stubbornness.

    http://www.nationaljournal.com/white-house/in-defense-of-obama-on-the-gates-memoir-20140108

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  18. Anonymous8:29 AM

    As USUAL Barack is MILES ahead of these idiots!

    Gates Was Offended Obama Thought He’d Write a Memoir

    He writes in his memoir

    'I was put off by the way the president closed the meeting. To his very closest advisers, he said, “For the record, and for those of you writing your memoirs, I am not making any decisions about Israel or Iran. Joe you be my witness.” I was offended by his suspicion that any of us would ever write about such sensitive matters.'

    http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/08/gates-was-offended-obama-thought-hed-write-a-memoir/

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    1. Anonymous9:29 AM

      @anon 8:29

      A fine example of cognitive dissonance. Thanks for pointing that one out.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous8:34 AM

    It's got to be hatred that these neocons have for this President. It's shocking that Bates would delliver a critical memoir now, when the President is still Commander-in-Chief of the military, and has two years left. This Bates just demeaned POTUS in front of everyone, including those who are patriotic and allegiant to the USA's interests. If ever there was a (God forbid) conflict again, Bates just did his country a dishonor and disservice, by weakening the troops (if they ever read the book). He's putting seeds of doubt in every corner of the military, towards President Obama.

    No other words. In the US's history, I don't ever believe a public humiliation has been done towards a President who is still an acting Commander-in-Chief.

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  20. SHARON8:46 AM

    I agree with all these comments....the entire globe was ecstatic that Obama and Biden were in charge. Having Hillary as SOS was a brilliant appointment and again the entire globe is watching how the GOP is trying to destroy this country. It is as plain as day that Hillary will follow being our first woman president as she has watched how the GOP has screwed Obama and mostly this country....she will not be offering the olive branch. I can hardly wait....Gates is just another asshole pimping his legacy away from Bush. Knowing Obama....he lets these lies roll of his back but reading that about Joe is really low class, super low class.

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  21. Anonymous8:48 AM

    IMO opinion, President Obama is a true humanitarian. I think he found out on his first day, after the inauguration, that it was going to be an uphill battle against the non-humanitarian GOP, who put their allegiance to country on the back burner, and put all their energies in reviling this new President and creating a false narrative of him from the first day.

    I believe that true integrity in a man or woman trumps everything that angry men can try to throw out there against them. It's so obvious that President Obama is too nice to really be a politician. The old guard don't know what to do with themselves. In 2008, they had to deal with a sensitive caring guy? They must have been besides themselves.

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  22. Anonymous9:00 AM

    I've not read the book yet (plan to!) but a lot of the news coverage yesterday, on MSNBC, indicated he complimented our POTUS many times. I assuredly hope so!

    Love our President - he is one class act and shows it over and over again! I voted for him both times and could not be happier in having done so.

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  23. Anonymous9:07 AM

    Obama Derangement Syndrome Fails Again

    http://theobamadiary.com/2014/01/09/obama-derangement-syndrome-fails-again/

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  24. Anonymous9:08 AM

    "Obama doubted his own policy after he decided to send 30,000 more ttoops to Afghanistan early in his first term", Gates wrote.

    Who wouldn't be overjoyed at this account? If it buys time for even for a few years, and prevents young kids from getting blown to bits, why shouldn't this be a good thing? If a leader has doubt and inner conflict about sending an army into a territory that's been, for centuries, ravaged by ethnic and religious acts of violence, which never resolves itself, which American would be offended by that?

    I think this book is going to vindicate the President in more ways that Robert Gates could ever have dreamed. I think this book is directed at those who brag about how powerful and great and exceptional they love to feel, at the expense of the weak and fractured and broken. It's a book for those who wouldn't blink.

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  25. Anonymous9:24 AM

    Gates wrote that Obama "doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out."

    And that was my prime reason for voting for Obama. Suck it, Gates.

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    1. Anonymous10:35 AM

      you got that right, and the old senile asshole mcshame, "what are we going to tell the parents of the dead soldiers from falogia(sp, shameful of me!)
      YOU JOHN MCSHAME SHOULD TELL THEM YOU ARE SORRY THAT THEY EVER HAD TO GO THERE, but you wAR LOVING ASSHOLE, WERE ALL OVER GETTING THEM THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE....FUCK YOU AND YOUR DUMBASS VP CADIDATE

      Delete
    2. Anita Winecooler5:37 PM

      Which goal is more honorable? How DARE Gates, considering all this President's accomplished and experienced. President Obama has more honor in his pinkie than every bone of everyone Gates ever worked for.

      Delete
  26. cckids9:33 AM

    Gates' main problem with President Obama seems to be that the President didn't take every solid word out of the military's mouths as complete gospel; that he actually did his job & questioned them. Considering the results of their supposed competence in Afghanistan & Iraq, who can blame him?

    I am not attacking the men & women on the ground at all; they are doing an impossible job & doing it as well as possible. The upper levels of the military, though, are, by & large, another type of politicians, bent on getting their own way & continuing war & war spending as long as possible.

    The author of "Black Hawk Down" said that the military advisors to President Clinton pretty much sandbagged him to allow things to fail so that he'd look bad, because they didn't like him as President. I have no doubt that some, like McChrystal or Petraeus, would do the same to President Obama.

    And, BTW, the President's doubts & actions about the military leader's "plans" have been proven right by subsequent history.

    And, in closing, Gates slams VP Biden for being "wrong" about foreign policy? Has he taken any kind of a look at McCain's record? Wrong, always, on actual events (Iraq) and probable events (invading/attacking Iran, Libya, Egypt, etc, etc). Way, way too many Repubs just cannot get over themselves & see clearly about the military.

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    Replies
    1. DetroitSam2:31 PM

      Both McChrystal and Petraeus did betray President Obama when they leaked information to the press.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous9:48 AM

    Another Bush regime holdover throwing turds in the punchbowl to make himself look like a "patriot". He was involved in Iran/Contra but slithered out of it. He's a douche bag.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous9:50 AM

    Should be retitled "Dookie", because that's what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous10:53 AM

    I suspect he figures he will sell more books if he attacks his President and the American governmental system, than if he wrote the truth.

    Lets see if his gamble pays off:

    my feelings are that, just like some people BUY Palin's "books," they don't actually READ them, (as doing so is beyond their ability)

    ...so this puke may see some sales to those who want them as coffee table ornaments--yet will not get his point across to anyone--nor see his cowpie collection of bullshit become any sort of best seller.

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  30. Anonymous11:24 AM

    as a vet im to believe a thing this asshole says?

    fuckhim.

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  31. Anonymous11:34 AM

    me too G! This guy, was all in when he served as a part of PresO's administration. Even made recomendations... so screw him!

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  32. DetroitSam2:33 PM

    Presidents Johnson and Kennedy did listen to the generals and look what happened: The Bay of Pigs and continuing the Vietnam war way past the time it should have ended.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anita Winecooler5:30 PM

    What's most educational, and speaks volumes of President Obama and Vice President Biden's integrity as people was their response to an ungrateful pissant who disrespects the office of the Commander in Chief who ended one war, is ending another, neither of which he started AND he;s the one who delivered Bush's "promise" with the bullhorn on the rubble of 911.
    I felt this guy had more smarts than Petrayeus, but apparently I was mistaken.
    I guess Gate's career is over for good, who would hire him now? (that's a rhetorical question, he's guaranteed a show on Fox News).
    Patting Obama on the head for his actions in the war room negates nothing and actually makes it worse.
    And to think he had security clearance and access to the President and Vice President. Screw him upside down at high noon in Macy's Window.

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  34. Anonymous6:00 PM

    One day, SOMEONE is going to write Obama's TRUE story. You can myth-o-dize all you want.

    ReplyDelete

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