Posts Tagged ‘Robert Gates’
Obama and the Search for Audacity
Obama needed to pay more attention to Ronald Reagan’s dictum that “personnel is policy.” Instead of appointing serious managers of national security policy who could think outside the box—perhaps audaciously—he filled his national security team with tired veterans of Cold War thinking.
Read MoreObama’s Memoir Offers Insights Into Major Shortcomings
With the possible exception of the memoir of President Ulysses Grant, there has never been a presidential memoir as useful or insightful as Barack Obama’s “The Promised Land.” Interestingly, he provides clues to the shortcomings of his performance that was successful in many ways but nevertheless disappointing to his devoted following.
Read MoreBiden and the Lost Art of Political Cabinetry
Biden’s success will ultimately be determined by the political posture of Senator Mitch McConnell, but the initial appointments to his administration point to a strategy designed for political success.
Read MoreBrennan’s Nuremberg Defense: One More Whitewash of the CIA’s Torture Program
Recent News and Latest Book
Meet the Newest Apologist for Israel: Rear Admiral John Kirby
Tuesday’s press conference highlighted the worst of the administration’s predictable defenses and apologies for Israel’s illegal and immoral military campaign against Palestinian civilians. Once again, the worst of Kirby’s remarks were not referenced in the Washington Post and received an anodyne one-sentence summary in the New York Times. I believe it is important to understand the meaning and implications of Kirby’s callous and callow remarks.
Washington Post Believes U.S. & Israel “Can Get Back on the Same Page”
President Biden seems to believe that the recent U.S. abstention on the cease-fire resolution at the United Nations Security Council and the feckless warnings about avoiding a humanitarian nightmare in southern Gaza allow his administration to pose as an “honest broker” between Israelis and Palestinians. The United States has never been a genuine “honest broker.”