Robert Gates: Wrong Man for the Job

Barack Obama not only had the good judgment to oppose the war in Iraq but , as he told us earlier this year, "I want to end the mindset that got us into war." So it is troubling that a man of such good judgment has asked Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense--and assembled a national security team of such narrow bandwidth. It is true that President Obama will set the policy. But this team makes it more difficult to seize the extraordinary opportunity Obama's election has offered to reengage the world and reset America's priorities. Maybe being right about the greatest foreign policy disaster in US history doesn't mean much inside the Beltway? How else to explain that not a single top member of Obama's foreign policy/national security team opposed the war--or the dubious claims leading up to it?

	Obama's Fateful Choice of Gates	Consortiumnews.com	Mon Dec 1	0
	Gates: Military looks to accelerate Iraq pullout	Associated Press	Tue Dec 2	8
	The 3 A.M. Team: Obama's war advisor administration	National Review Online	Tue Dec 2	1
	The Case for Keeping Gates	Center for American Progress	Tue Dec 2	3
	Obama names Gov. Richardson to head Commerce	Associated Press	Sat Nov 29	3