Departure
Thank goodness now-former United States ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, resigned from his position. His track record [as a diplomat only by title] at the UN fares no better than his work before the highest position in American diplomatic service. He was never even confirmed by Congress — as is the requirement — but President Bush put Bolton up to the post anyway.
Arrival
Robert Gates, favored as the next US secretary of defense, responded, when asked whether he thought the American war in Iraq was going well, “No, sir”.
BBC News:
US Defence Secretary nominee Robert Gates has told a Senate committee that the US is not winning the war in Iraq.
Maybe this man, who worked with the more realistic and down-to-earth (but still not great), George H.W. Bush (41st president), will knock some sense into this administration’s thinking on defense and foreign policy. Wishful thinking considering almost anyone with common sense in this White House has been shut out. This hits on the central question featured on the cover of Newsweek this week: "Will he [Bush] listen?". (Although that article relates to the Iraq Study Group, whose full report is set to come out tomorrow, the question stands.) Gates will probably replace Donald Rumsfeld, whom I can safely say I don’t admire. Just as a final note, Gates was voted for 24 to null in a Senate Armed Services Committee vote earlier today.
On the bright side for those in the West Wing, at least one out of two of the recent nominations (Bolton's was stalled) looks like it's going to be a green light.
technorati tags: rumsfeld, gates, robert+gates, donald+rumsfeld, secretary+of+defense, bush, george+bush, Iraq, news, politics, united+states, usa, bolton, john+bolton, ambassador, un, united+nations, clearthought, in+perspective
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