Gates Wants Out

I think that SecDef Gates wants out of his job. It was both a credit to him and to Dear Leader to keep him on during the transition from one administration to another given the country's involvement in two wars. But I doubt that Gates was much enamored of Obama then and is likely even less so now that his name has become increasingly associated with an administration whose foregin policy is emerging as naive, feckless and at times wholly irrational. Gates probably won't resign unless he is asked to tow a line that crosses a line of conscience, but clearly he is chafing at being an instrument of Obama's weak-minded foreign policy. So what does a cool customer like Gates do? Get fired. Start doing the things that get you run out of Washington - talking sense, telling obvious but embarassing truths, and failing to show unfailing loyalty to administration policy. The Iran thing over the weekend was part of this no doubt, although some could construe this as an urgent action to raise public awareness of a critical policy failing. This, however, cannot be construed that way. Gates appears to racking up transgressions in the hopes of getting asked to leave. I suspect we'll see him gone soon. The only thing that would keep him in place is if Obama thinks he'd be a bigger problem outside of the tent pissing in than the other way around.