Rumors About War Hawks in the Obama Cabinet
What will change really look like?
We’ll know when we see those faces around the table at that first cabinet meeting.
I’m sure you’ve heard the rumor mills churning: There are exciting names being floated alongside some downright disturbing rumors. Bush’s Defense Secretary Robert Gates, an Iraq war loyalist and a hawk on nuclear weapons, is being talked about as a possible Obama Defense Secretary. In the last two weeks, this rumor has morphed from a trial balloon to something more likely.
The peace movement helped elect Obama president, and we need your help now to see this chance for change through. Tell Obama’s transition team that it’s too risky to put Obama’s Iraq withdrawal plan in Gates’s hands by clicking here and leaving your personal message for Obama on his Change.gov transition site. Then, tell 5 of your friends about this action.
During the campaign, Obama drove home that this era’s signature test of foreign policy judgment was whether or not you supported the invasion of Iraq. Gates failed that test. Gates has also been vocally opposed to Obama’s withdrawal plan. It takes a vivid imagination to picture Gates implementing and successfully defending a timeline for troop withdrawal.
I’m also very concerned about Gates’ positions on arms control – especially nuclear weapons. At a time when people like Henry Kissinger and George Shultz are calling for steps towards a nuclear weapons free world, Gates been calling for a new generation of nuclear weapons.
As I told the LA Times, we can be sure that the Obama team is under pressure to dial back plans to withdraw from Iraq it is our job to hold him to his campaign promises to withdraw. That is why your voice, right now, is so important. The best time for you and I to impact the appointments process is now, not after the President-elect makes his nominations public, so please send the Obama team your message right now.
I am truly hopeful about the potential for change that a new president embodies. And at Peace Action we will do our part to make sure the momentum for a better, wiser and more just foreign policy keeps going. Please send a message today to the President-elect’s transition team, and remind them that voters want fresh leadership at the Pentagon here.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Martin
Executive Director
Peace Action
love obama:)
-Paris
To Kevin M. Martin, all members of Peace Action and all Obama supporters:
In addition to contacting the Obama transition team regarding Robert Gates could you also please add the name of Hillary Clinton, disturbingly rumored to be appointed as Sec. of State, as another war hawk we would not like to see in the Obama Cabinet.