the military industrial complex is not acknowledging their new c.i.c.

[mopinko]

i have to say that, much as i love my president, i think the permanent powers that be are not accepting him as the man in charge. this comes as no surprise to me, but is a disappointment. i really thought he was savvy enough to push back and maybe even win. maybe in the long run he will.
i do think that he went in understanding that this part of the job was going to take a long time. that, imo, is why he kept gates. he wanted an insider to help back the beast into a corner. hopefully, he is just letting them play it out while he tend to other things, and building trust with them.
but jesus. please tell me that at some point he is going to go to the pentagon and start kicking ass and taking names.

[Captain Hilts]

1. On what are you basing this impression? What should they be doing for him that they are not? nt

[mopinko]

4. this clown that has been put in charge in afghanistan,

and something about the way leon panetta is sticking up for the cia strikes me as creepy.

[TwilightZone]

7. You find it creepy that the Director of the CIA is sticking up for the CIA?

[mopinko]

8. just something about it

he could be in there making it the obama cia, and drawing a bright line separating themselves from the misdeeds of the bushies.

[TwilightZone]

9. True.

I think he's probably trying to pick up the pieces left by his recent predecessors, so he's probably decided that, at least for the moment, his role as Director outweighs his role as a member of the administration.

Annoying, I'll agree, but maybe not that surprising.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. There's nothing wrong with Panetta sticking up for the CIA

Pelosi went to the press and told them that the CIA lied to Congress but could not possibly have made a weaker case to prove it. Given how weak her case was, Panetta was absolutely right in sticking up for the agency.

[lamp_shade]

2. What?

[Thrill]

3. Calm down. Obama isn't going to go in pissing the Military off his first few months in office

especially while they're fighting two wars. At least not on every issue. I don't think anyone is having a problem accepting he is the one in charge.

If they did, you would be hearing anonymous quotes undermining some of the things he's done or is doing.

[mopinko]

6. I hope you are right

I think this is at the crux of whether we will have real change.

[Captain Hilts]

15. He has no motivation to do so. They don't want to be in Iraq any more than he wants them there.

There's a lot of common ground.

[grantcart]

5. Gates has fired more top commanders than any Secretary in recent history

He is also dismantling expensive exotic and unnecessary high tech systems.


He kept Gates because Gates hates DC, could care less for contractors and is committed to equiping real soldiers with what they really need.


Gates' interview on 60 minutes last Sunday was very revealing, IMHO.

[Cha]

10. Thanks, grant

for that little important bit of enlightenment.

[Thrill]

11. Yeah. After I watched that, I saw why Obama wanted to keep him

.

[mopinko]

12. i will try to track that down.

yes, i agree he is willing to wield the knife.
thanks.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. And it lends bipartisan credibility to whatever Obama wants to do with the Pentagon