Sunday, January 11, 2009

Thank You Robert Gates For Averting War With Iran

This tidbit from the story about how Bush turned down aid for an Israeli project to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities makes me quite happy with our continuing defense secretary:
The interviews also indicate that Mr. Bush was convinced by top administration officials, led by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, that any overt attack on Iran would probably prove ineffective, lead to the expulsion of international inspectors and drive Iran’s nuclear effort further out of view.
In an Obama administration, Gates' role will be less oriented towards preventing America from going on crazy explosion adventures, and more oriented towards making constructive improvements in defense policy. His interest in cutting outmoded Cold War defense programs is a good example.

2 comments:

corvus said...

Keeping Gates on is continuously looking like a splendid hiring decision in its own right, and not just a sop to continuity or bipartisanship.

Shit, if that report is accurate, the guy practically deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. (ok, that might be a little hyperbolic.)

low-tech cyclist said...

To paraphrase Firesign:

"Gates for SecDef - Not Insane!"