Defense Secretary Gates=Obama's "Political Cover To Slash Weapons Programs & Defense Budget"

[kpete]

Gates in trouble with GOP?
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 12:36pm


Until now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been Washington's bipartisan heartthrob. But as he settles in with the new administration, suspicion is growing among his old Republican buddies. There is growing belief on the right that President Obama will use him for political cover to slash weapons programs and the defense budget. Push may come to shove next week if Gates rolls out his tough choices, which likely will cause great pain in parts of the Navy and Air Force -- and in congressional districts that bend metal for warships and fighter planes.

Here is how my old friend (and uber-hawk) Tom Donnelly of the militarily promiscuous AEI puts it:

Obama is going to be cutting defense budgets (and we shall see what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan) and Gates gives him top cover that no Dem can give. Obama needs Gates through this year's budget, the QDR process and the 2011 budget-build, and these are difficult defense issues that matter a lot more than gays or satisfying any of the party constituencies, because they could jeopardize Obama's domestic priorities. Gates, for reasons that I cannot quite figure out, has agreed to this Faustian bargain."

My bet is that Gates will stay on until about this time next year, and leave when the QDR (Quadrennial Defense Review) is done. By then, I predict, Republicans will be crying, "Bobby, we hardly knew ye."

more at:
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/03/gates_in_trouble_with_gop

[marmar]

1. Good.....Slash away.

n/t

[Aloha Spirit]

2. I don't know, killing projects that don't work sounds so survival of the fittest.

Republicans should love that!The fiscal discipline!

Ah whatever.

I thought the same thing myself, but was under the impression Gates actually supports cutting the spending on the failing projects so there's more money for other stuff.

Also, I'm wary of when they say "budget cut" because what they probably mean is "less of an increase than we expected under Bush".

[sendero]

3. I wish he would...

.. our "defense" policies and our military are are huge waste of lives and dollars.

[pleah]

4. Make deep slashes, but, don't stop there! END THE WARS!

So much of this money seems to be wasted anyway. Maybe if they had less to work with they would actually get something of use made with it, say like body armer, helmets, you now, those little things that help keep the soldiers alive.

[bluestateguy]

5. This is why keeping Gates was brilliant

Political cover.

These Republicans want to cut spending.

Fine. We know exactly where to go to do that.

[Raymond Budelman]

6. Why Gates remains on board . . .

Gates remains at the Pentagon because, by having a Republican Secretary of Defense on board, President Obama looks "strong" on Defense (as if Dems don't want to protect this country from real national security threats).

[bigtree]

7. republicans are so far out in space

disagreeing with him doesn't make what he's doing necessarily adequate

[SpartanDem]

8. In other words

Obama has once again out smarted the opposition.