| Wednesday, November 08, 2006 |
| Paging Dr. Bob |
 Now that we have a SecDef nominee, let's get a bit of reaction. First, Rand Beers:
Responding to the news of the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Network President Rand Beers called it a “welcome development that is long overdue.” Beers said, “It has been clear for some time now that Donald Rumsfeld was not the right man to lead the Pentagon. We need someone who is able to develop alternatives to the present failing strategy and Donald Rumsfeld had blinkers on and would not change course.”
“The National Security Network is pleased that the President has heard the message from yesterday’s elections about the need for new leadership at the Pentagon. While a change of personnel is important,” Beers pointed out, “what is really important is that we have a change in policy in Iraq.”
On the nomination of Robert Gates to replace Rumsfeld, Beers said, “We all look forward to the debate about how to move forward in Iraq. The country needs to hear from Bob Gates about his ideas as well as those of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group of which he is a member.”
More on Gates from Wikipedia:
Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence official, currently nominated by President George W. Bush for the position of United States Secretary of Defense. Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council. Under President George H.W. Bush, he served as Director of Central Intelligence. After leaving the CIA, he wrote his memoirs[citation needed] and became president of Texas A&M University, serving on several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the bipartisan commission headed by James A. Baker III, the Iraq Study Group, that has been studying the Iraq campaign.
It's clear that Gates is an old crony of his fellow former Company man, George Herbert Walker Bush (in fact, he served as director of the CIA during the end of Bush I's term.) And the Texas A&M connection shouldn't be missed. When in doubt, Bushes turn to the family, including extended family and friends. That's fine. Gates is likely someone Bush will feel comfortable with, and to be frank, I'd much rather see him draw from his family's coterie of advisors than from Dick Cheney's, which is where we got Don Rumsfeld. It's a sign that perhaps Dubya is, at long last, getting serious about wrestling his presidency out of the hands of Cheney and his band of warmongering neocons. Unless I hear something really horrible about this guy, I'm inclined to say "good show, Dubya," and now let's get on with it.
Update: The new guy may also come with some refreshing, non-neoconservative thinking on Iran.
Tags: Iraq, Bush, Rumsfeld |
posted by JReid @ 3:51 PM   |
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