Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made news with his memoir, in which he makes some strong criticism of President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
And yet, he is positive overall on Obama, and thinks both Biden and Clinton would probably make good Presidents.
Most interesting is his criticism of Biden, that he has been critical of military leadership, and that he has, according to Gates, never been right in the past 40 years on any national security matter. And yet he would make a good President, so figure that!
To say that Biden has been wrong for the past 40 years makes us think that, supposedly, every President since Nixon has been right on national security and defense matters. And to say that Biden has NEVER been right is totally preposterous! And what is the record on Presidents since JFK?
Was Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and particularly Bush II, REALLY right all of the time? Give me a break!
When one thinks back, the military leadership misled John F. Kennedy on the Bay of Pigs.
The military leadership misled Lyndon B. Johnson on Vietnam.
The military leadership was wrong on Vietnam under Nixon, as well.
In the brief tenure of Gerald Ford, thank goodness no major flub by the military leadership.
The military leadership misled Jimmy Carter on the Iranian hostage military rescue attempt.
The military leadership misled Ronald Reagan on dealing with “freedom fighters” in Afghanistan, and in dealing with Iraq’s leader Saddam Hussein.
The military leadership misled George H. W. Bush on Somalian intervention.
The military leadership misled Bill Clinton on dealing with Al Qaeda.
The military leadership misled George W. Bush on Afghanistan and Iraq.
So if Barack Obama was skeptical and IS skeptical about the military leadership in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, that was good!
And if Joe Biden had, and has, a healthy dose of skepticism about the military leadership, that is VERY GOOD!
And that means Joe Biden would be an excellent successor to Barack Obama, because he questions, has doubts, does not worship the military leadership!
That is the kind of President we have now, and need, in the future!
Thank goodness for who we have in our top two positions in our national government, men with a dose of skepticism, with the reminder that we have a civilian government, not one run by the military, and that is what has kept us free, and will continue to do so!