Gates OK'd for defense by Senate panel

[citizen snips]

WASHINGTON - Robert Gates won approval by a Senate panel Tuesday to be the next defense secretary after telling the senators the U.S. is not winning the war in Iraq and there could be a "regional conflagration" if the country is not stabilized

At a Senate confirmation hearing that was long on praise for Gates and short on criticism, the man President Bush picked to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld said he is open to new ideas about correcting the U.S. course in Iraq. He said the war would be his highest priority if confirmed as expected.

A vote by the full Senate could come Wednesday and is virtually certain by week's end.

In a closed-door meeting following five hours of open testimony, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 21-0 to recommend approval of Gates' nomination, said panel chairman John Warner, R-Va.

If confirmed, Gates said, he planned to visit U.S. commanders and troops in Iraq "quite soon."

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates_pentagon

[Vidar]

1. Dealing with this criminal is only justified if he pulls the troops out.

I hope the Dems haven't sold themselves for anything less.

[applegrove]

2. John Warner announces unanimous confirmation of Mr. Gates.

Senate Armed Services Committee. Tomorrow it goes to the full Senate.

[physioex]

3. Yep....I am hearing it on CNN as well.....EOM

[pinto]

4. 21-0 to endorse confirmation.

[endarkenment]

5. Of course.

The elites intend to continue to govern, just with a their Democratic hats on.

[SutaUvaca]

6. Another criminal.

n/t

[demnan]

7. I always write him on stuff - I missed the ball this time

Not that it would do any good. Too bad they didn't wait for our kick ass junior Senator to come on board. I'm sure Senator Webb would not give this guy an automatic yes.

I do want to say that what I did do (I had people at the house installing stuff) was respond to a letter from Robert Byrd who wanted feed back on how I felt. I said I wanted to ask Gates about Iran Contra and the stuff Robert Perry has been writing in Constortiumnews.com. I hope Mr. Byrd gets knowledge of my request.

[CHIMO]

8. Robert Gates' Former CIA Branch Chief and a CIA Analyst Who Testified Against Him on the Politicizat

Robert Gates' Former CIA Branch Chief and a CIA Analyst Who Testified Against Him on the Politicization of Intel During Iran-Contra

AMY GOODMAN: Do you take this vote, which they’re hoping to push through very quickly, within a week, to confirm Robert Gates to be a kind of test, a bellwether of what’s to come with a Democratically controlled Senate and Congress?

RAY McGOVERN: I hope not, Amy. You know, there is this one predominant factor, which I call the “ABR factor,” anybody but Rumsfeld, and Gates is a supreme beneficiary of that factor. They want Rumsfeld out of there, but it’s unseemly haste, in my view. There is a report that Gates can’t come in until January, in any case, because he has obligations still down there in Texas. If that’s the case, these senators should do their homework. And if they do their homework, they will see more damaging evidence still of Gates’s role in Iran-Contra and in other areas that still have yet to be thoroughly explored.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/05/1452228