“Gates likely to sustain terror war”

That’s the title of this report by Rowan Scarborough in the Washington Times. But those who are concerned about the Gates nomination aren’t claiming that Gates is going to throw in the towel on the “terror war.” The main concerns are that Gates will push the administration towards throwing in the towel on Iraq and that, given Gates’ past pronouncments regarding Iran, his nomination effectively means there will be no military action to prevent the mullahs from developing nukes. Nothing in Scarborough’s piece provides comfort on either score.
It may be that the administration was never going to take military action towards Iran. It may be that taking such action is a bad idea. But I see little merit in taking the military option off the table, so it seems less than ideal to have a Defense Secretary whose appointment can be viewed as doing just that.

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