SO WHO'S THIS ROBERT GATES GUY AN EX-GENERAL OR SOMETHING?

It seems our troubles in Iraq demand someone with massive experience in troop management, logistics and combat strategy. What is up with this guy?

Robert Michael Gates, Ph.D. - born September 25, 1943 - was confirmed as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense on December 6, 2006, and will be sworn in a few days from now on December 18. President George H. W. Bush (the sorrowful presidential dad) set him up as Director of Central Intelligence during his administration. Indeed, Gates boasts over 26 years of spy-work in the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Council but how will that help our guys and gals in Iraq?

With massive intelligence experience, Gates eventually moved back into education. After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and also became influential on several corporate boards. As a member of the bipartisan commission headed by James A. Baker III and the Iraq Study Group, Gates drew rave reviews but again, how will this help our troops? He holds the distinction of being the first pick by Bush Jr. to head the Department of Homeland Security, after its creation following the September 11, disaster; a position that he chose to decline.

On November 8, 2006, after midterm election losses, Bush Jr. announced his intent to nominate Gates to succeed resigning Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. Gates states in a letter to students that he will continue as President of Texas A&M until completion of the confirmation process. Gates was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Armed Services Committee on December 5, 2006, and the next day gained confirmation by the full Senate with a 95-2 margin.

Now, here's where he gets spooky, if you can pardon the pun:

At William and Mary College, Gates was an active member and president of Alpha Phi Omega (the national service fraternity) and the Young Republicans; which shows strong partisan loyalties and leanings.

Gates is still criticized for dominant roles in both the Iran-Contra scandal and the war between Iran and Iraq. Because of his senior status in the CIA, Gates was close to many figures with significant roles in the Iran-Contra Arms Deal. Very few reliable sources suggest that his position did not allow him to know every detail of these highly-irregular clandestine activities. In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated a massive U.S. bombing campaign against Nicaragua, while insisting that the U.S. do everything in its power to remove a democratically-elected Sandinista government.

Gates is or has been an influential member or director on the boards of Fidelity Investments, NACCO Industries, Inc, Brinker International, Inc, Parker Drilling Company, Science Applications International Corporation, and VoteHere, a technology company which seeks to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry. A White House spokeswoman claimed that Gates intended sell the stock he owns in individual companies and sever ties with them, after the recent Senate confirmation. Did he "severe" these ties yet?

After Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence, heading up the CIA in 1987, he withdrew his name when it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to his role in the Iran-Contra affair. As deputy director and occasionally director of this leading intelligence agency for many years, Gates failed to accurately gauge decline and disintegration of the Soviet Union, in spite of his Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. More particularly, many experts accuse Gates of concocting evidence to show that the Soviet Union was stronger than it actually was before its decline. Also, according to Wikipedia, experts criticize him for repeatedly skewing intelligence to promote a "particular worldview," whatever that means. According to U.S. Senate transcripts, Gates, as deputy director of the CIA, vouched for comprehensiveness of a memo affirming that the Soviet Union orchestrated the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II. The memo was no small detail, after its presentation to President Reagan and the entire U.S. Senate.

Just another incompetent crook.

is that "particular worldview," he promotes, according ot Wikipedia, the famed NEW WORLD ORDER of King George?

is the only thing that matters to those psychos.

His expertise is in clandestine dirty-dealing, eavesdropping on those who do not share his "worldview" and maybe even election rigging. If you wielded the power of DIEBOLD would you use it in a way that made it obvious to everyone in America the recent elections were rigged or would you allow a slim majority of the opposition into power right before a house of economic cards built over nearly a decade came tumbling down? Hey, they gotta blame someone, it may as well be the Democrats again.

another BushCo true believer.

as an answer to my earlier post asking if the "particular worldview," that Gates promotes is synonymous with the famed NEW WORLD ORDER of Bushco?

LOL

for the next Presidential Election. It's unfortunate that Democrats, while able to accomplish little with such a President and in so little time, will now easily blamed for everything bad that continues to go wrong.

The moral of the story? We'd better use these two years to maximum advantage to do whatever is possible to (a) restore freedom of the press/breakup the inexcusable media oligopoly, (b) clean up the electoral process, (c) stop the Executive Branch from spying on Americans, and (d) investigate the hell out of Republicans and formalize charges against them for their misbehavior since 2001. Lots of other things, no doubt, but specifically in terms of preparing for a competitive run in 2008, the media, the electoral process, the privacy of our candidates and uncovering the true crimes of Republicans must be done. Everything in the future depends on 2008 and a Democrat as President; and as bad as our military debacle is, in order to be able to do anything about it, we have to win in 2008. That's job one.

for an economic collapse that already appears to be well underway... Bushco made sure that old enemies of the U.S. like Red China hold enough notes on us to cause grave consequences to the American middle-class. While it may be common knowledge here at DU, few average voters in America have any idea how much Bush borrowed from that less-than-friendly empire. We owe UAR a heap too. They may love Bushco but to them us middle-class types are "infidels." What's more, to a lesser degree, Iran is a lender to our government with an ability to excerpt influence on our future stability with oil prices, if nothing else.

Other factors include a veritable flood of cheap labor from Mexico, which shows no indication of subsiding, coupled with the most massive export of good jobs, ever documented in U.S. history. These factors put the squeeze on everyone in America, except for billionaires with diverse overseas interests.

In a depression, wealth is never lost, only transferred. I'm glad I don't have one of those new interest pay-down only, flex or variable type mortgages.

sooner or later... because the ultra-wealthy control our Corporations, our access to information, our politics and politicians, our government and so on. Clearly those in power (money=power) have had enough of that upstart creation called the "middle class" getting in their way; time to squash us and make even more money while doing it.

Of course, having an ideology of corruption does allow them to fit right in.

Gates is no joke.

Baker is not to be trifled with either.

Father Bush is re-exerting power over the executive by sending in his "hit crew" in the form of Baker, Gates, et al.

I'd say anyone underestimating their abilities, is either ignorant or attempting to keep others that way. This guy makes me miss old Rummy the Dummy. Mastermind of the Third Reich and Propaganda Minister, Dr. Joseph Goebbels has nothing over Gates.

bin Laden are now running the 'war' on Terra.

:crazy:

figured that out?

the more I learn the more I feel like :puke:

In particular, Gates' involvement with the ISI to fund the "Afghan Arabs" vs. the ISI funneling money to Ata -- whoever he really was.

I was wondering. I thought you were on board with the vast left-wing conspiracy.