Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: Hillary Clinton And President Obama Opposed The Iraq Troop Surge To Look Good Politically

Hillary Clinton And Obama Admitted They Opposed Iraq Troop Surge Only To Look Good Politically, Claims 'Dismayed' Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates In Damning New Book -- Daily Mail

* Robert Gates, secretary of defense under Barack Obama and George W. Bush, writes that Hillary Clinton made a callous political move in 2006
* She announced her opposition to Bush's Iraq troop 'surge' just before entering the presidential race
* Gates writes that she admitted making that choice in order to avoid being politically outflanked by Obama as they entered the 2007 primary season
* The revelation could prove problematic for Clinton as she prepares what political observers see as a second run at the White House in 2016
* The former defense secretary also says Obama believed his own troop surge – the move of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan – would fail

Hillary Rodham Clinton, a likely Democratic Party standard-bearer in the 2016 presidential contest, staked out her military-related positions in the 2008 race based on how they would play politically, according to a former secretary of defense who served in both the Obama and Bush administrations.

Describing a 'remarkable' exchange he witnessed, Robert Gates writes in a book due out next week that 'Hillary told the president that her opposition to the [2007] surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary.'

Obama, too, 'conceded vaguely that [his] opposition to the Iraq surge had been political,' Gates recounts. 'To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.'

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More News On Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' Remarks That Hillary Clinton And President Obama Opposed The Iraq Troop Surge To Look Good Politically

Gates says Obama, Clinton played politics with Iraq war -- Washington Times
Gates: Obama and Clinton admitted opposition to Iraq surge was due to ’08 campaign -- Washington Post
Obama, Clinton opposition to Iraq ‘surge’ was political, ex-Pentagon chief Gates writes -- Market Watch
Gates: Obama, Hillary Said Opposition to Iraq Surge Was 'Political' -- Weekly Standard
Gates: Hillary, Obama Admitted They Opposed Surge for Political Reasons -- NRO

My Comment: When it comes to Washington it is always about politics .... the fact that Robert Gates overheard this being said by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama should not surprise anyone.