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A Better Bob Gates Profile

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics

I posted a lengthy profile about Robert Gates recently, but this one is much more relevant to the position he’s vying for.

From CQ.com:

…he’s long been a major player in Republican national security circles, first as a Russian specialist on President Gerald Ford’s White House National Security Council in 1974, then eventually at the CIA, where he held a handful of senior positions before being tapped to be its chief by the first President Bush, in 1991.

And it wasn’t the first time he’d been nominated for the post � or his first dose of trouble in the spotlight.

In early 1987, his role in the so-called Iran-Contra affair, a secret White House operation to sell weapons to radical Islamic Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages � and cash for CIA-backed rebels in Nicaragua � came under scrutiny.

Gates withdrew his nomination in the face of sure rejection.

So what to make of that? Is the Iran-Contra scandal behind us? Can we trust him to do right where Rumsfeld done wrong?

Here seems to be the upside…

“The most important thing may not be Bob’s Intel background, but his experience back in the Bush 41 days when the ‘Deputies’ Committee’ worked at its best ever � Defense, State, CIA, NSC,� Bearden said. “That group held a government together when it was trying to pull off one of the trickiest moves since WWII: the denouement of the USSR, the reunification of Germany inside NATO, and cleaning up after the half century engagement of the Cold War.�

“The crux of it,� Bearden added, “is that he knows how to make a national security team work.�

So where Donald failed, Robert could make it work.

Let’s hope.


This entry was posted on Saturday, November 11th, 2006 and is filed under General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “A Better Bob Gates Profile”

  1. PoliticalCritic Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 12:30 pm

    Anybody is better that Rummy. Id’ rather have a General who’s been on the ground in Iraq, but this may be good enough.

  2. Bob J Young Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 2:21 pm

    After reading the CQ profile, I’m even more unhappy about having him as a boss.
    He sound like an unethical Rummy clone with administration skills. Which I suppose shouldn’t come as a surprise. W liked Rumsfeld and wants another.

    He sounds like he has better people skills, but when it comes time to lie to advance the presidents agenda, he will be happy to comply.

    We’ve ended up in one quagmire because of this attitude. We do not need someone that will happily lead us into another.

  3. Mark Strozenberg Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 5:30 pm

    If you read Novak’s article you’ll get the impression that Gates might not be qualified, and Bush may prefer it that way. It’s quite obvious to me that Bush only wants someone who will push forward with his personal agenda… and Gates may just be the perfect guy for the job.

    http://www.bobgates.net/index.php/2006/11/09/will-lack-of-experience-be-a-problem/

  4. GreenDreams Says:
    November 12th, 2006 at 9:25 pm

    I’d really have to hold my nose to support Gates. The Iran Contra affair was nothing short of treason. I’m not being reactionary here. Selling weapons to the avowed enemy of the USA is treason, is it not? And against an act of Congress, they used the Ayatollah’s money to support terrorism — the attempted undermining of the democratically elected government of Nicaragua. The sainting of Reagan after his death made me nauseous. The man armed our enemy and admitted it.

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