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November 10, 2006

Robert Gates: Good for Bush, Bad for America

Robert Parry, who uncovered much of what we know about the Iran-Contra scandal, has written a fairly comprehensive article about Robert Gates, the man President Bush has chosen to replace Donald Rumsfeld. In it, he looks at Gates's collaboration with Islamic extremists in Iran, his arming of Saddam Hussein, and his doctoring of intelligence to please the politicians. Parry also cautions that the speedy confirmation schedule laid out by the President will not allow Congress to seriously investigate the man's past.

Some of the interesting tidbits from Parry's piece:

- In 1993, the Russian government told a House investigative task force that toward the end of Jimmy Carter's term, Gates had been involved in the effort to convince Iran to delay releasing the hostages in order to benefit the Reagan/Bush campaign.

- Gates was involved in secret military assistance efforts in the Iran-Iraq war. He helped Saddam Hussein buy cluster bombs, ammunition, vehicles, and chemicals needed to build chemical weapons.

- Gates pressured CIA analysts to exaggerate Soviet support for terrorism in order to match intelligence with the Reagan Administration's political perspective. Politicization of the CIA from then on became increasingly systemic.

Clearly, Gates isn't constrained by the law. He does what the politicians in charge want done. Parry sees the selection of Gates as a sort of circling of the wagons by the Bush Family in an effort to save the presidency of their son. Of course, the rest of us just couldn't care less about the presidency of George W. Bush, nor are we particularly impressed with what he seems to want to get done in Iraq. So while Gates may be good for Bush, I'm not so sure he's good for America. We're more looking for someone who can get the mess in Iraq under control so our young men and women can come back home to their families where they belong.

Posted by Becky at November 10, 2006 09:36 AM