Gates Says He Writes Iraq War Dead Kin

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070318/D8NUMMMG1.html

Gates Says He Writes Iraq War Dead Kin
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Mar 18, 12:38 PM (ET)


WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly every evening, Defense Secretary Robert Gates takes up a sad task: adding a few sentences to letters to the families of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.

"I guess it's because I feel a personal responsibility for each one of these men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," Gates said Sunday when asked about the practice on "Face the Nation" on CBS.

"And it's just - it is a small gesture to the families that I personally am involved and that I personally very much care and have great sorrow over the sacrifice that their son or daughter or husband or wife has made," he said.


In this photo provided by CBS, Defense Secretary Robert Gates appears on CBS's "Face the Nation" in Washington, Sunday, March 18, 2007. (AP Photo/CBS Face the Nation, Karin Cooper)

FULL story at link.

[Kagemusha]

1. Did Rumsfeld do this? I don't think so, but just checking.

It's at least a rather human thing to do.

[journalist3072]

3. No...And if my memory serves me correctly, he never even personally signed the letters, let alone

add a personal note.

I think I remember some story about him using some automated machine to sign the letters.

[Kagemusha]

4. Yeah, the machines to sign letters didn't exactly start with him

but he certainly made liberal use of them....

[shance]

2. Do you and others feel responsible enough to stop profiting from this war?

Letter writing is lovely gesture, however the blood red ink seems to stain the penmanship effort made.

[Kagemusha]

5. Gates is profiting from this war?

Oh really?

[MannyGoldstein]

10. I Don't Know - But I'd Bet He Is

Check for ties to the Carlyle Group - with the BFEE and their crew, it's ALWAYS about the money - and the Carlyle group is usually the front company.

[hlthe2b]

7. wanna clue us in? (re: profiting for Gates)

[sanskritwarrior]

8. How exactly

is Gates profiting? If so I'd like to see proof so I can get outraged......

[w4rma]

9. High profile job where he gets to spout platitudes but work as a roadblock to ending the war? (nt)

[sanskritwarrior]

11. How is that profiting?

???????????????????????

[w4rma]

15. C'mon. The guy is in a position where he can do some real good, but he stops short.

Why does he stop short?

[sanskritwarrior]

16. So you have no proof he is profiting???

n/t.........

[w4rma]

17. I have absolute proof: He gets a good sized paycheck each week and a good platform for

getting into things that will earn him larger and even huge profits. These are facts.

As long as he keeps his mouth shut about certain things and doesn't rock the GOP boat.

[sanskritwarrior]

18. So the proof of your proof

is exactly what again........

[w4rma]

19. Huh? I just said it. (nt)

[sanskritwarrior]

20. So your proof

is that I should just believe one sentence you wrote rather than any actual proof??

[w4rma]

22. The proof is that he gets paid each week and his position is one of great power and prestige that

will allow him to jump off into any number of other much higher paying jobs or allow him to other means of income. He doesn't even have to do any job except show up and be a nice public face. His golden parachute is sitting pretty attached to his back.

Of course, all of this is dependent on him not doing anything that might hurt Bush or the GOP leadership. All of this is dependent on him not blowing the whistle on what he sees, and instead keeping his mouth shut.

[sanskritwarrior]

23. So again you have no actual proof

just your opinion.......Don't ever try that in a courtroom pal.......

[w4rma]

24. Hmmm. I'll explain it even more simply this time.

Robert Gates is Bush's appointed Defense Secretary. He profits from his weekly paycheck. He also will profit from his current position by using the high profile and contacts with military suppliers that it provides. These are all facts. He continues to profit because he does not rock the boat in any meaningful way.

[sanskritwarrior]

26. I profit from my weekly paycheck

from the Department of Defense as well.....I don't profit as much as Gates as I am a lowly Non commisioned officer........I do however have investments of my "profits" from the DOD spread across the spectrum. Some of my investments are in medicine, some in pharmaceuticals, some in Defense companies.........

So again where is your proof that he is profiting? This isn't hard, I'm not defending Gates he can suck it, I am asking you to prove with evidence that he is profiting. Your opinion is not proof..just like my opinion is not.......So again can you cite me some proof?

This has now become not about Gates, but about people just throwing shit all over the place with no basis in factual reality. If you can show me proof of profiting, I will back down. Again this has nothing to do with gates and everything to do with accuracy.

[w4rma]

27. You're not a political appointee and you're not in a position to give the boat a really good tilt.

He is. He makes way more than you from his paychecks alone. And he can rock the boat in some major ways that can really help end the Iraq War earlier and *will* save some lives.

[sanskritwarrior]

29. You are still not providing proof

you are trying to prove something with your opinions......A newspaper article that says gates is war profiting would do quite nicely......That is what we call proof.

Frankly I didn't care but the longer this goes on with you trying to convince me with your thoughts rather than with something tangible the funnier this whole thread becomes. Saying something does not make it true. Saying the war is illegal does not make it so. A supreme court ruling or an Act of Congress saying the war is illegal would make it so. I would love to not go back late this year but with no ruling from the USSC or an Act of Congress, I am oath bound to go.

Again this comes back to what is true and what can be proven as true. I can prove that the war is legal by Congress continuing to fund it and Congress or the courts not ruling it illegal. Congress is legislating money and the courts are not making a ruling. Both of those groups have weight to their words......Some guy or girl on DU telling me gates is profiting off the war doesn't carry a lot of weight. There is no way for you to quantify your words........Agree or Disagree?

[w4rma]

30. What "proof" are you looking for? That he gets paid each week or biweekly?

Or that he is a Bush political appointee in a very powerful position?

What proof is there that you need for either of these facts that can't be easily found by yourself?

[sanskritwarrior]

31. By your definition

then I and every other service person is profiting from Iraq as well.........WHERE IS YOUR PROOF? Opinions are not proof.....that is an elementary concept.......

[w4rma]

32. Wow, that isn't even close. You put your life on the line and this guy sits in a cushy office.

I don't see how the two situations can even be compared.

[sanskritwarrior]

34. I don't see how they are different without proof.

n/t

[saigon68]

13. Dear Mom

You can be the first one on your block

To have your boy (or girl) sent home in a box

Signed the Gates Puppet

[Javaman]

25. And it's 5,6, 7

open up those pearly gates

I don't give a damn, next stop is iraq-nam

there ain't no time to wonder why

Whoopee! we're all gonna die...



so sad that an anti-war song written so long ago is still timely.

[sofa king]

28. No proof, but...

Gates sat on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, a mining company; Brinker International, owner of Chili's Grill and Bar; Parker Drilling, an offshore oil rig owner; SAIC, or "C-I-A-Spelled backwards;" and VoteHere, a company which apparently sells encryption software for electronic voting machines. According to Wikipedia.

SAIC, for one, has made and continues to make a shitload of money off of the Iraq war--$2.6 billion worth of contracts from the DoD in 2003.

Gates claimed he would sell off his stock if confirmed, but hey, we're talking the Bush Administration here--why would someone do something honest like that? And even if he does, just look at the multi-million dollar payoff Halliburton is amassing for Dick Cheney to see how one can get around that trivial detail.

[Justice]

6. "personal responsibility" -- now that is rich coming from the bush admin.

[City Lights]

12. IMHO, chimpy should be the one "adding a few sentences" to those letters.

He's the one who sent them off to die.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

14. He shouldn't feel responsible...

But He's basically just a face with a title. Rummy is still running things from a private office a few blocks from the Pentagon with Pentagon employees. He's admitting mistakes of the "former" secretary, and I think Bush hired him because he actually has some integrity and is a pretty decent guy.
I think he does feel bad about what's going on, but he can't do anything about it.
Duckie

[arewenotdemo]

21. Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Gates will always defer to the Imbecile-in-Chief's brainless plan for Iraq ("let's win it!").

This Nazi simply does not want to be perceived as heartless and evil as his predecessor.

[SKKY]

33. While I don't agree with the war, I have to respect...

...secretary Gates for doing this. At least it isn't the rubber stamp treatment Rumsfeld gave the fallen troops.