The man who stands between US and new war

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/07/wiran307.xml

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has taken charge of the forces in the American government opposed to a US military attack on Iran, writes Tim Shipman.

Pentagon and State Department officials say Mr Gates has set himself up as chief rival to Dick Cheney in a bid to thwart the vice president's desire to bomb the Islamic state.


Defence secretary Robert Gates: a force for peace
Those familiar with internal battles in the Bush administration say Mr Gates has eclipsed Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, as the chief opponent of air strikes and is the main reason President George W.Bush has yet to resort to military action.

Pentagon sources say Mr Gates is waging a subtle campaign to undermine the Cheney camp by encouraging the army's senior officers to speak frankly about the overstretch of forces, and the difficulty of fighting another war.

Bruce Reidel, a former CIA Middle East officer, said: "Cheney's people know they can beat Condi. They have been doing it for six years. Bob Gates is a different kettle of fish. He doesn't owe the President anything. He is urging his officers to be completely honest, knowing what that means."

Officials say Mr Gates's strategy bore fruit when Admiral William Fallon, the head of US Central Command, charged with devising war plans for Iran, said last month that the "constant drumbeat of war" was not helpful.

advertisementHe was followed by General George Casey, the army's new chief of staff, who requested an audience with the House of Representatives armed services committee to warn that his branch of the military had been stretched so thin by the Iraq war that it was not prepared for yet another conflict.

own convictions, from the first time I heard him speak to Congress. He's not the agressive type like Schwartzkopf was, but he doesn't appear to be anyone's patsy either. I think he & Fallon fkat out won't take any sh*t from anyone, especially Cheney!

Well that's news to me. I thought she spent her time "shilling" the party line.

ANd Chaney with his "parallel administration". Something straight out of the movie "Dr. Strange Love".

What a freak, i feel sorry for his future neighbors. Course they won't probably notice him too much. People who live under rocks typically keep low profiles.

You go Gates! Show the world what it is to have a back-bone. :dem:

This makes me feel even better about him.

Wow!