Barack Obama may recruit defence chief Robert Gates
Sarah Baxter
London Times
Sunday, June 29, 2008
In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House.
Obama’s top foreign policy and national security advisers are pressing the case for keeping Robert Gates at the Pentagon after he won widespread praise for his performance. The move would be in keeping with Obama’s desire to appoint a cabinet of all the talents.
After appealing for unity with former rival Hillary Clinton and her supporters and big donors last week, Obama, 46, is turning his attention to wooing Republicans and independent voters who may be concerned that he lacks the experience to be trusted with America’s defence.
continued...
Full Version: Barack Obama may recruit defence chief Robert Gates
Maybe not that odd a choice. From The Goddess' Homework, here is a tidbit out of the Seymour Hersh article on the runup to Iran:
QUOTE
A Democratic senator told me that, late last year, in an off-the-record lunch meeting, Secretary of Defense Gates met with the Democratic caucus in the Senate. (Such meetings are held regularly.) Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America.” Gates’s comments stunned the Democrats at the lunch, and another senator asked whether Gates was speaking for Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Gates’s answer, the senator told me, was “Let’s just say that I’m here speaking for myself.” (A spokesman for Gates confirmed that he discussed the consequences of a strike at the meeting, but would not address what he said, other than to dispute the senator’s characterization.)
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07...07fa_fact_hersh
Maddow said something along the lines "If there was just one orphaned official I would save from this terrible abusive family in Novevember it would be Robert Gates.
She said this in response to the fact that he fired some heavy hitters for the kind of fuckups that W's usual lot get promotions for.
She said this in response to the fact that he fired some heavy hitters for the kind of fuckups that W's usual lot get promotions for.
P.S guys...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates
The final report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, issued on August 4, 1993, said that Gates "was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities."
[snip]
In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated that the U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U.S. do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the Sandinista government.
[snip]
Gates has been a member of the board of trustees of Fidelity Investments, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc., Parker Drilling Company, Science Applications International Corporation, and VoteHere (*), a technology company which sought to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry.[18] A White House spokeswoman has said Gates plans to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and sever all ties with them if confirmed by the Senate.
[snip]
As deputy director and director of America's leading intelligence agency for many years, Gates and his CIA staff have been faulted for failing to accurately gauge the decline and disintegration of the Soviet Union. More particularly, Gates has been criticized for concocting evidence to show that the Soviet Union was stronger than it actually was, and also for repeatedly skewing intelligence to promote a particular worldview.[32] Also, according to Newsweek, Gates, as deputy director of CIA, allegedly vouched for the comprehensiveness of a CIA study presented to the Senate and President Reagan alleging that the Soviet Union played a role in the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II. A CIA internal review later denounced the report as being skewed[32], but that Gates did not try to influence the report's conclusions.[33]
[snip]
(*) Bev Harris on VoteHere Inc.
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/bo...1954/45174.html
Gates was on the board of directors of VoteHere, a strange little company that was the biggest elections industry lobbyist for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). VoteHere spent more money than ES&S, Diebold, and Sequoia combined to help ram HAVA through.
[snip]
But all is forgiven if Obama wants him - eh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates
The final report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, issued on August 4, 1993, said that Gates "was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities."
[snip]
In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated that the U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U.S. do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the Sandinista government.
[snip]
Gates has been a member of the board of trustees of Fidelity Investments, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc., Parker Drilling Company, Science Applications International Corporation, and VoteHere (*), a technology company which sought to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry.[18] A White House spokeswoman has said Gates plans to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and sever all ties with them if confirmed by the Senate.
[snip]
As deputy director and director of America's leading intelligence agency for many years, Gates and his CIA staff have been faulted for failing to accurately gauge the decline and disintegration of the Soviet Union. More particularly, Gates has been criticized for concocting evidence to show that the Soviet Union was stronger than it actually was, and also for repeatedly skewing intelligence to promote a particular worldview.[32] Also, according to Newsweek, Gates, as deputy director of CIA, allegedly vouched for the comprehensiveness of a CIA study presented to the Senate and President Reagan alleging that the Soviet Union played a role in the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II. A CIA internal review later denounced the report as being skewed[32], but that Gates did not try to influence the report's conclusions.[33]
[snip]
(*) Bev Harris on VoteHere Inc.
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/bo...1954/45174.html
Gates was on the board of directors of VoteHere, a strange little company that was the biggest elections industry lobbyist for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). VoteHere spent more money than ES&S, Diebold, and Sequoia combined to help ram HAVA through.
[snip]
But all is forgiven if Obama wants him - eh?
QUOTE (Seeker1 @ Jun 30 2008, 05:28 PM) 
But all is forgiven if Obama wants him - eh?
No! Definitely not. I have to admit I'm real weak on who Gates is, but stronger for having read your post. This is indeed a problem if Obama's people think they can work with a guy like this.
QUOTE
Gates was on the board of directors of VoteHere, a strange little company that was the biggest elections industry lobbyist for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). VoteHere spent more money than ES&S, Diebold, and Sequoia combined to help ram HAVA through.
NOW you are pushing my hot button.
Ye gods its nice to have Seeker here 
Thanks for the terrific information
Thanks for the terrific information
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