"All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again," Gates, 63, 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."
2006-12-18 07:52:24 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
He's all right I guess. I suppose this is a signal by Baby Bush that he is capitulating to his father's era.
2006-12-18 07:57:42 · answer #1 · answered by braennvin2 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
He's one of the top two Secretaries of Defense we've had in 2006. His big achievement so far is that he has a lot of experience at not being Donald Rumsfeld, and that's exactly what we need in a Secretary of Defense right now: Someone who isn't Donald Rumsfeld.
2006-12-18 15:54:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
From what I heard about him, he tells his superiors what they want to hear instead of the facts.
"we simply cannot afford to fail . . ."
At the time of the Vietnam war, I'll bet they were saying the same thing. We failed then. However, it was a calamity to BE in the war; not to end the war in failure.
How can getting out of Iraq endanger Americans for decades to come? It still pisses me off that they keep linking the Iraq war to terrorism.
2006-12-18 16:12:22 · answer #3 · answered by Greenosity 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He's better than Rumsfeld..
and that's about all everyone else is saying.
I like that his ideals come from paleoconservatism and not the neo branch.
2006-12-18 15:56:37 · answer #4 · answered by justin_at_shr 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just another repuglican, can't be any worse the the former S.o.D. though.
2006-12-18 15:57:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He's gotta be better than Rumsfeld !
2006-12-18 15:56:53 · answer #6 · answered by jim 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋