The Secret World of Robert Gates

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The Secret World of Robert Gates

By Robert Parry
November 9, 2006

Robert Gates, George W. Bush’s choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary, is a trusted figure within the Bush Family’s inner circle, but there are lingering questions about whether Gates is a trustworthy public official.

...more - http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/110906.html

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Robert Gates, Illuminati Fireman

Here - http://www.conspiracyresearch.org/fo...10&#entry14610

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Robert Gates-Gate
Here - http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1111-22.htm

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A PECULIAR RISK:

Blackmail & Bobby Gates

by ROBERT PARRY

One risk of putting career intelligence officer Robert Gates in charge of the Defense Department is that he has a secret—and controversial—history that might open him to pressure from foreign operatives, including some living in countries of U.S. military interest, such as Iran and Iraq.

Put more crudely, the 63-year-old Gates could become the target of pressure or even blackmail unless some of the troubling questions about his past are answered conclusively, not just cosmetically.


In the 1980s and 1990s, Gates benefited from half-hearted probes by the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch into these mysteries. The investigators – some of whom were Gates’s friends – acted as if their goal was more to sweep incriminating evidence under the rug than to expose the facts to public scrutiny.

While giving Gates another pass might work for Official Washington, which always has had a soft spot for the polite mild-mannered Gates, it won’t solve the potential for a problem if other countries have incriminating evidence about him. So, before the U.S. Senate waves Gates’s through – as happened in 1991 when he was confirmed as CIA director – it would make sense to resolve two issues in particular:
Did Gates participate in secret and possibly illegal contacts with Iranian leaders from the 1980 election campaign through the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986?

Did Gates oversee a clandestine pipeline of weapons and other military equipment to Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq starting in 1982?
Gates has denied allegations linking him to these operations, but evidence that has emerged since 1991 has buttressed claims about Gates’s involvement. Other new documents, such as papers recovered from Iraqi government files after the U.S. invasion in 2003, also could shed light on the mysteries.

...more - http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/111506Parry.html

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Intelligence sources question Gates' independence from Cheney, Rumsfeld

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Tuesday November 14, 2006

Many current and former intelligence experts, officers, and policy makers are questioning the rationale for the seemingly unexpected nomination of Robert M. Gates to the post of Secretary of Defense, RAW STORY has learned.

The argument has been made by many pundits and experts that the removal of Rumsfeld and the nomination of Gates, planning for which numerous sources indicate began roughly one month ago, will have the effect of marginalizing Vice President Dick Cheney, seen by most to be the driving force behind US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Baker's man or Cheney's man?

Sources say that what is at stake here is preserving the Bush family legacy, which is of far greater concern to Bush loyalists than any other factor. The choice of James Baker III, former Secretary of State during the Bush 41 presidency, to head a probe of current Iraq strategy only serves to reinforce this belief. As many see it, Baker is respected first and foremost for his loyalty to the Bush family and his protection of their mutual business interests.

One former senior intelligence officer, who served during the Bush 41 presidency, believes that by and large the Gates appointment is simply buying time and providing cover, while allowing Rumsfeld to take the fall for the execution of a now-unpopular war. This source also believes that the fall of Rumsfeld might serve as notice for Cheney to curtail his inner hawk.

"Cheney cannot be removed, except by feigning ill health, as he is an elected official," said this official, "but he can be marginalized."

But the Baker vs. Cheney argument does not stand up to scrutiny. Simply put, when Gates served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, he had far more in common with Cheney than he did with other members of that administration, including those currently involved in attempts to intervene in Iraq policy.

...more - http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Ga...Part_1114.html

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