Former CIA Director And Defense Secretary Robert Gates: 'The U.S. Has No Global Strategy'

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates conducts a press conference at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, April 19, 2007. Gates is accompanied by, from left, Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces - Iraq; Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of Multi-National Forces - Iraq West; Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command; Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq; and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace. Wikipedia

Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ: The U.S. Has No Global Strategy

The former defense secretary on U.S. gains forfeited in Iraq, America’s rudderless foreign policy and the ‘completely unrealistic’ Donald Trump.

Many Americans probably had misgivings when U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq in 2011, but even the most pessimistic must be surprised at how quickly things went south.

Turn on the TV news: Western Iraq, including the Sunni triangle that the U.S. once worked so hard to pacify, is in the hands of a terrorist group, Islamic State, radiating attacks as far as Paris, Jakarta and San Bernardino, Calif.

The battlefield where the U.S. spent most of its blood has become swept up into the chaos of next-door Syria. Refugees from the region are destabilizing Europe. Proxy forces, shadowy groups and national armies representing half a dozen countries are fighting on the ground and in the air. The world seems one incident away from World War III in the vacuum U.S. troops left behind—as when NATO member Turkey recently shot down a Russian jet.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates occasionally meets veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars in his travels. What their effort bought seldom comes up. “We don’t really talk about where we are today,” he says. “You have to assume it’s very painful for a Marine who lost a buddy in Fallujah to see an outfit like ISIS in charge of Fallujah again. Was the sacrifice worth it?”

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WNU Editor: Robert gates has been a critic of the Obama administration since his retirement .... Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Provides A Harsh Critique Of President Obama In His Memoir. And while he is probably right that current U.S. foreign policy is "rudderless" .... he was also in the thick of it when much of it was formulated and implemented.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates Visits Washington

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates waits with Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for President Barack Obama to arrive at the Pentagon for the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute to honor Gates, June 30, 2011. DOD photo by Cherie Cullen

A Voice In The Wilderness -- Walter Pincus, Washington Post

Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates returned to Washington last Tuesday and in his first major speech since leaving government spoke of his deep concern over the “decline of views and values . . . when it comes to how we govern and relate to one another here at home.”

He compared this capital’s “oversized egos and undersized backbones” with the “low-key, self-effacing demeanor . . . steadfast integrity, common decency . . . moral and political courage” of Brent Scowcroft, the 86-year-old former two-time national security adviser and Gates mentor who was being honored at the Atlantic Council dinner. Gates was among the speakers.

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My Comment: When it comes to the former US Secretary of Defense Gates, I will always wonder if he decided to leave when the leaving was good because he did not want to face the enormous challenge of conducting the budget cuts that are occurring now. Then again .... who am I to judge a man who has served with loyalty and professionalism through many decades of service and sacrifice.

Gates' Epiphany -- A Commentary

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

From Human Events:

When President Obama announced his National Security Team of Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and James Jones, we were a bit apprehensive. And that apprehension was, unfortunately, proven justified when Gates announced his 2010 budget on April 6, 2009.

The 2010 budget is so different from earlier budgets Defense Secretary Gates helped draft and push through Congress during the last Bush years that we had to wonder: did he have some sort of revelation in which it was revealed to him that the threats to the United States had been vastly reduced?

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My Comment: This commentary takes the shine off Robert Gate's halo. Expect more in the next few weeks.

Update: Commentary: A misguided quest to reform the Pentagon -- McClatchy News

Obama's Decision To Keep Gates Looks Ever Better -- A Commentary

Robert Gates. Brooks Kraft / Corbis for TIME

From The Wall Street Journal:

It now appears that President Barack Obama's shrewdest personnel move wasn't making Timothy Geithner his Treasury secretary, or Lawrence Summers his chief economic adviser.

It was keeping Robert Gates, a Bush administration holdover, as secretary of defense.

Mr. Gates is a smart guy, tough in his own clipped manner, and an extremely crafty bureaucratic operator. All that was known before the president decided to keep him on.

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