Former Rumsfeld Deputy Blasts Gates Pick

Larry Di Rita, a close confidant of former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, criticized President-elect Barack Obama's expected retention of Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a "safe decision" that maintains the "status quo" of those who resist broad efforts to transform the Defense Department.

In a blog posting on National Review Online, Di Rita, who served in several Pentagon jobs under Rumsfeld from 2001 to 2006, writes that Gates focused on Iraq and Afghanistan at the cost of carrying on Rumsfeld's efforts to bring about "the most rapid and profound transformation" of the defense establishment since 1947.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

A Rumsfeld cheerleader on Huffington,LOL.

[human2008]

Dick is the most dangerous VP in history and Rumsfeld was the most dangerous SOD in history. W was sandwiched between Dick and Rum until too late.

[Rebecca]

What? What? Was there a faint sound coming from Donald Rumsfeld and his co-horts? OMG leaving Gates in this position must definitely be the right thing to do, then.

[mapleaforever]

Now you KNOW it was the right decision. Where do these cockroaches crawl out from?

[rob2007]

Anybody openly supportive of Prisoner #2215667 (Rumsfeld) should at the very least be duct taped and extraordinarily renditioned to an undisclosed country for debriefing and hopefully down the line reintegration into sane society.

[theone718]

Gates had to fix the complete destruction of the Pentagon that Rumsfield managed to do. PUHHHLEAZE.

[Norsky]

Another loser heard from. Why do we need to know his opinion?

[majorteddy]

Yeah, he's right. We should get Rumsfeld back in there--- and for good measure bring Brownie back at FEMA !

[Loki11467]

This guy should be flogged. Rumsfeld really wanted to loot our treasury to benefit his friends and weaken the US.

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

A crony if Rums-namara isn't on board with Gates? Works for me. One more CORRECT decision by Obama.

[BlueStateMan]

Iwonder if he's reated to "Curly JOE" Di Rita?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curly_Joe_DeRita
.

[steveo39]

the last and the least of the Stooges. and, by all reports, the really nasty & vindictive one (seriously!), the one who accomplished the least in Stoogedom, yet expected the maximum deference to his exalted position of stoogeness. kind of like our current (thankfully outgoing) fearful leader & his cronies . . .

[wahooligan]

If the deputy of a war criminal and crony like Rumsfeld hates it, give me seconds please.

[AddyGmom]

Yeh. DaRita's panning Gates is a positive for Obama.

[truthglow]

Yeah, now I feel so much better about Gates.

[SethBLiNK]

Rumsfeld was going to bring revolutionary change to the Defence department but Gates back-burnered it. Why? Was it because Rumsfeld left him with the worst planned and executed war in American history to attend to? Not only did Rumsfeld ill-advise his President about getting into the war and ill equip his army to prosecute it in the crucial post-mission-accomplished stage, he also didn't resign after our nation was disgraced because of policies he condoned at Abu Garib.

He left his successor with alot on his plate, so if Gates didn't get to make progress on Rumsfeld's big reforms, it's hardly Gates' fault. As for Obama "unwittingly" sending out the signal to those in the Pentagon would fear Rumsfeld-style reform, first of all, Obama doesn't do anything "unwittingly" (that's your team's m.o., Larry) and second, seeing how the President elect is tackling the economy this week, I doubt any Pentagon dead wood is sitting pretty this week.

[Ohsnap]

Rummy's opinion is like getting the opinion of an arsonist who burnt the house down and critizing the fire department for not getting there fast enough.