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Robert Gates has won approval by a Senate panel to be the next defense secretary of the United States. Gates, 63, stated in a daylong hearing Tuesday that the U.S. is not winning nor losing the war in Iraq.
Gates believes that all options are on the table regarding the problem in Iraq. He believes President Bush wants to see Iraq arrive at the point where the country can stand on it's own feet without help from U.S. troops.
"What we are doing now is unsatisfactory." Gates said.
Gates said the biggest challenges lie in the areas of stabilization and political developments.
White House press secretary Tony Snow was asked about Gates' answer that the U.S is not winning the war in Iraq.
"I know you want to pit a fight between Bob Gates and the president, it doesn't exist," Snow stated.
During the hearing, it appeared as though both Republicans and Democrats agreed on Gates' views and the demand for new strategy in Iraq.
Productivity Shock writes:
News reports are making it sound like everyone is perfectly happy with Robert Gates, the prospective new Secretary of Defense. Or maybe they just can't wait to see Rumsfeld go.
186 K Per Second writes:
The Democrats at the Robert Gates confirmation hearing as well as the talking heads were almost giddy today when Robert Gates agreed with them that we were not winning in Iraq.
All a Democrat wants to hear is that we are losing I mean "not winning" and you are a shoe in!
When asked whether it was appropriate to announce a specific withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Gates replied it "would essentially tell (the insurgents) how long they have to wait until we're gone."
Simply Liberal writes:
Everyone saw this coming. The snoozefest of a testimony was a simple pat on the back from Republicans for being Bush’s nominee, and a pat on the back from Democrats for not being Rumsfeld. I’m not sure that any of this even matters, as I am 100 percent certain that Gates will not call for a troop withdrawal, even though that is what the American people and Iraqis want.
Currently, Wikipedia is stating that Robert Gates is the current United States Secretary of Defense, but the full Senate vote for secretary of defense nominee isn't expected until later today.
Captain's Quarters writes:
The unanimous approval seems very surprising. The Democrats just won the midterm elections on the promise to challenge the Bush administration on Iraq, and this confirmation hearing gave them the best opportunity to start. Instead of making a pre-majority splash by demanding policy changes or by forcing Gates to endure a party-line vote, Democrats gave him a complete pass.
Red Ohio writes:
The Democrats must not realize that they are in power in Congress and they are still in their "it's all Bush fault" mode. If they want to stay in power and capture the White House in '08 they might try to propose some solutions to the nation's problems. "It's all Bush's fault" won't be a winning rallying cry in '08. Bush won't be running in 2008.
Another concern about Gates is the nominee's financial statement pertaining to $91,000 in director fees he received from Parker Drilling Co. The Democrats are hinting of similar Halliburton dealings of Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Washington Post also reports that Robert Gates' assets include up to $250,000 in stock in a defense contractor on whose board he serves. This was revealed in a financial disclosure released yesterday.
Gates plans to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and sever all ties with them if the Senate confirms him as Pentagon chief.
Contributing Editor Dana J. Tuszke also blogs at The Dana Files and Watch Blog.