Gates: US Can’t Wait for Legitimate Afghan Govt
Promises to Press NATO for Escalation During Slovakia Visit
President Barack Obama was reportedly hoping to wait until the massive fraud in August’s Afghan election gets sorted out to make his decision on how large a troop escalation to approve in Afghanistan, but that’s not going to prevent Defense Secretary Robert Gates from pressing his NATO counterparts to approve escalations of their own this week in Brataslava.
Not only that, but Secretary Gates is urging the administration to hurry up and make its decision, insisting they can’t afford to wait for the Afghan government to become legitimate.
It’s “not something that’s going to happen all of the sudden,” Gates insisted, “I believe that the president will have to make his decisions in the context of that evolutionary process.”
Gen. Stanley McChrystal is reportedly seeking up to 80,000 additional troops for the conflict, and Secretary Gates is widely expected to endorse his proposal, though he has yet to publicly disclose his position.
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freedonnow
October 20th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I can understand that Gates saying that he cannot wait for a legitimate government government to appear in Afghanistan in order to increase US military action. As a former Bush appointee he couldn't wait for the US to wait until it had a legitimate government either. And how can we consider Obama's government legitimate after his bailout of the banksters, continuation of the wars and the Patriot Act?
Gates does understand the importance of terrorism in today's world. After working so long for the CIA and the Pentagon he has a unique understanding of this threat by hands on experience and participation. He understands the need for the US to keep its monopoly on force and corruption.