There is plenty on Bob Gates’s career at the CIA in such books as the late Theodore Draper’s book on the Iran-Contra affair, A Very Thin Line, and journalist Joe Persico’s biography of Reagan-era DCI William J. Casey. It’s been a long time since I read those books, but my basic memory is that Gates was like Al Haig, a careerist bureaucrat with few major ideas or initiatives, willing to go whichever way the political winds were blowing in his work in the intelligence community. In some ways that may be refreshing after 6 years of Rummy at the Pentagon, and his arrogant cocksure ways, but this administration still has Condi (the supposedly brilliant foreign policy guru and diplomat who prefaced her emergency trip to Beirut to confer with Lebanese officials last summer, as the rockets and missiles were flying, by saying that this (the war between Hizbullah and Israel) was a birth pang of the “new Middle East.” Even if that were true, which is doubtful, it was enormously insensitive and inapt thing to say at that moment, when one is the chief diplomat of the most powerful nation on Earth.), Cheney, and Bush. Sincerely, mackb

Gates had his fingerprints all over the Iran-Contra Affair. He had a hand in propping up Saddam Hussein against Iran. He a also gave aid to Osama bin Laden before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. What a perfect fit for this administration. Who is going to protect the vault that protects 41’s papers at Texas A&M? Some former CIA persons say he is dirty.

Of course he’s dirty, birds of a feather flock together. The only one that was remotely good was Colin Powell, the only reason they kept him around was appearances. We know what happened when he protested.

Can’t see how Rummy’s resignation is a positive for US.

The question that Congress (Pelosi) needed to be ask before his resignation was: “How was the Office of Special Plans funded and staffed with DoD budget allocations?”

The answer from Rummy now, after his resignation? “I chose to invoke my 5th amendment rights not to answer that question…”

Bush should have done this a year ago. But Condi should stay.

I have always felt a Defense Secretary should be a Military Person.

Bush should keep Cheney because he will keep the Left from Impeaching Bush. The Left does not want to deal with Cheney.

Hell yeah, Mackb! You went right to the heart of the matter there.

Much of a hawk as he can be, I would much rather see Baker in that spot. I just think he would at least listen to the mil brass and weigh the sentiments of the people against his own ideas. Of course, then he would have to claw his way past cheney to convince an idiot what needs to be done.

Fortunately, Baker is widely enough respected for being very intelligent, even if you don’t agree with him on much (and that includes me, as if that matters), that Bush will have little choice but to go with what gets worked out from Baker’s framework, which I hope is similar in thinking to Joe Biden’s, since it’s the most logical angle.

Oh, Eddie: Pelosi wasn’t in that position until now. She couldn’t ask him. He would have said what he always says: “Fuck you!” LOL

That’s one of the main reasons Bush acted so quick, was to make sure Rummy was out of Pelosi’s reach.

What I’m wondering now is: Are Bush, Cheney and the gang gonna be telling Congress to shove their subpoenas up their asses? How would Roberts and his uncle Antonin the Dark react to that?

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