the one man that’s standing between us and a war with iran

According to the UK “Telegraph” it’s U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates that’s keeping us from going to war with Iran. Apparently, at least thus far, he’s been able to convince Bush not to follow through on Cheney’s attack plan. Here’s a clip:

…Pentagon and State Department officials say Mr Gates has set himself up as chief rival to Dick Cheney in a bid to thwart the vice president’s desire to bomb the Islamic state.

Those familiar with internal battles in the Bush administration say Mr Gates has eclipsed Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, as the chief opponent of air strikes and is the main reason President George W. Bush has yet to resort to military action…

I don’t know much about Gates, or what kind of man he is. If you’d asked me a few days ago, I probably would have said that he most likely represented a threat to mankind. A decent person, I would have reasoned, wouldn’t have chosen to join the Bush cabinet. Then, today I read something like this and it makes me reevaluate everything. I’m not saying it’s necessarily the case with Gates, but it occurs to me now that it’s possible that an intelligent, moral person could join an administration like this, even knowing that it might seal his fate in history, if he thought that he might be able to avert something like Cheney’s war with Iran. Again, I’m not saying it’s necessarily the case with Gates, but what if he chose to work with the administration not because he necessarily agreed with the course that they were plotting, but because he thought that he could somehow help to minimize the damage? I personally couldn’t imagine being that brave. If offered a place in the Bush administration, I’d run like hell. But the truly courageous thing, I’m thinking now, would be to join them and fight from inside.

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3 Comments

  1. Ed
    Posted October 9, 2007 at 2:12 pm | Permalink

    He was a Eagle Scout.

    But then he went and lied to Congress about Iran-Contra.

    Probably not as evil as Cheney, but no saint either.

    I still get your point though. To join that administration now you would either have to be really evil, really incompetent or really care about the country.

  2. Robert
    Posted October 10, 2007 at 5:26 pm | Permalink

    Robert Gates is like the parasite that understands it can’t kill it’s host. That counts for decency in some circles.

  3. Posted November 16, 2007 at 8:24 pm | Permalink

    Abercrombie: Bush Doesn’t Have Authority to Attack Iran. Fitch still undecided.

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