Important notes before you read: Robert Gates the former Secretary of Defense, not William the owner of Microsoft. Also this article contains some evident bias against President Obama, however the main take away should be whether or not the criticism is deserved.
This article follows Robert Gates and his new book featuring a barrage of criticism on President Obama's handling of foreign affairs during his presidency thus far. In particular the Syrian crisis among other middle eastern dilemmas. Is Mr. Gates truly concerned about the wellbeing of our nation by exposing what he believes to be fundamental errors in the current administration, or is he simply another has-been looking to make some extra cash off of a new book?
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't know enough about Obama's foreign policies to judge whether or not these criticisms are deserved. From my little observation Obama seems to be handling foreign policy issues well, but I am no expert. I don't think is right for Gates to be so critical of Obama while Obama is still in office. It seems like he is being very disloyal.
ReplyDeleteI think it is amusing that this man was secretary of defense under Obama, so he worked closely with the president on many of these foreign affairs. From what I know, I would say that this man had some influence on Obama's decisions. I think Max could be right about this man is a has-been looking to make a little extra cash.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay all that much attention to the international affairs of the president, so I'm not all that familiar on how his international relations and policies have been, but if Obama really did try to usher in a new way of handling foreign affairs, why would he have supported the 2003 invasions and have retained some Bush-era policies? That being said, I'm not all that familiar with foreign affairs, but usually change means you don't do the same thing that was happening before.
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Gates' book of criticism has nothing to do with him wanting to help our country and everything to do with the fact that he wants some attention. I think this point is made evident by the fact that he criticized, not only a sitting President, but also the Vice President. I think that Gates was just focused on making Obama and Biden look bad in all instances.
ReplyDeleteThe article points out that Gates was in a unique position as Secretary of Defense to observe and judge the decisions made at that time, and while I definitely agree with that, it's hard to say what his true motives were for writing the book. It is very possible that he is just in it for the attention and money. I was also surprised that he decided to have the book come out now while Obama is still in office. I feel like writers always choose their timing wisely, so I am curious as to why he didn't just wait.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Casey that is hard to determine the true motives for why Gates wrote about what he did and the timing that he released the book. It does seem like he was at least partially in it for the attention and money. I think it does make some sense as to why he released the book now, especially if he is in it for the attention. A book written about a current president seems like it would get more attention, at least short-term, than a book about a previous president.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Gates is simply trying to make some cash. I agree with Michaela that it is disloyal of Gates to openly criticize Obama while he still our president. He is serving no benefit by criticizing not only Obama, but Biden as well.
ReplyDeleteUnlike some of my other classmates, I am by no means surprised Gates would say what he did. Not everyone is going to love our president on all of his policies and actions. People are going to disagree and talk about it. Many people showed their disdain for President Bush during the end of his term as well. Being the former US Defense Secretary his rods may have a little more punch than others, but this is nowhere near as bad as comments made by others.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Mr. Gates criticized everyone but himself. Maybe he does in the book, and it simply wasn't mentioned in the article. If he does only criticize others in his book, however, I think that he is trying to preserve his legacy. No matter your political identity, you must agree that there were major successes as well as failures in Mr. Gates' tenure. It sounds like Mr. Gates feels as though he had to get his side of the story during these events to help his legacy even if coming clean this way is premature comparatively speaking.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty easy for Gates to say what he said when he's out of the spot light and won't be attacked by reporters every day. If he was the defense secretary under Bush and partly under Obama than why isn't he putting some of the blame on himself? I feel like if you're the secretary of defense then you're a pretty influential figure who can help make tough decisions. Maybe he should take responsibility for some of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if Gates thinks that what has been going is so bad, why didn't he try to do anything about it? I think it's hypocritical and a cry for attention. And from what I know Obama has kept a vast number of Bush policies in the war, and if so why is Gates so critical of only Obama, and not Bush or himself?
ReplyDeleteAlong with some of my classmates, I pay no attention to how president Obama goes about dealing with foreign affairs. Therefore, I don't really know whether or not I agree with the accusations Gates is making, but I do think it's inappropriate to criticize president Obama while he is still in office.
ReplyDeleteThis is purely a tirade of criticism that has absolutely nothing to do with Gates showing that he actually means to help the country. The points he make are part of the hypocrisy that show little merit to his intentions in writing this book about Obama's foreign policy that was is in fact trying to pick up the pieces left by the Bush legacy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Casey that it's hard to understand his motive although the evidence suggests he probably did it somewhat for the money. Unlike some of you guys, I don't really believe that it's “disloyal” of Gates to openly criticize Obama. Okay maybe it's disloyal I guess, but it's not wrong. Those who disagree with the president have a right to say so.
ReplyDeleteAlong with some of my classmates, I don't pay much attention to how Obama has been handling foreign affairs. Gates being the Secretary of Defense under Obama must have had some say in some of the decisions that were made in the past. I think that it is wrong to openly criticize President Obama while he is still in office and I personally see this as Gates just trying to make some extra cash.
ReplyDeleteI honestly have no idea how well Obama has handled foreign affairs. But one thing is for certain is that regardless of the issues there always will be critics. Maybe he was trying to make some cash, so what? Sometimes I think people criticize the president too much but it doesn't seem like that will be slowing down anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteMr. Gates was secretary of defense under both Obama and Bush, I think that this could mean that he is a straight forward guy who is willing to work across the aisle. The article did say that he was in a unique position to relate these criticisms. I am not surprised by the book, because he is a republican who served under a new and inexperienced, Democrat, Commander in Chief.
ReplyDeleteI think the criticism is warranted and the comparison between Obama as a candidate and president is an interesting one. I don't agree with Obama's foreign policy in regard to military affairs and I think that the secretary of defense is very credible and that fact that he has the courage to disclose this information during Obama's presidency may make it more accurate.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard to truly know Gates's real motives for writing his book but I know know that his criticism is fair. Freedom of speech is a right that the American people have never taken lightly and Gates is entitled to his opinions. No matter what the President does, he will always have his supporters and his haters.
ReplyDeleteReading this sort of felt like reading a long lost Kardashian trying to get her taste of fame. Although I think he probably does have a lot of good criticism, I don't really understand where he was trying to go with what he said that was mentioned in the article.
ReplyDelete