Gates encourages the terrorists

We have a Defense Secretary who is eager to blame America.

FoxNews reports:

RAMADI, Iraq -- Marking the formal end of the United States' combat mission in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested Wednesday that even if the war-torn country emerges from the chaos and upheavals of recent years in a way that favors U.S. interests, the venture will always be "clouded" by the faulty intelligence the Bush administration cited to make the initial case for war.

"The problem with this war for, I think, many Americans is that the premise on which we justified going to war proved not to be valid -- that is, Saddam (Hussein) having weapons of mass destruction," Gates told reporters after meeting with troops at Camp Ramadi in al-Anbar province. "Even if the outcome (of the war) is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it will always be clouded by how it began."

No, the premise that was stated at the time of the war was that Iraq had a history of WMD development and military aggression, and that it was not complying with UN inspections.

Admittedly, Pres. Bush himself waivered on this point. Here are the reasons as I understood them. For original documents, see the 2003 speeches by G.W. Bush and Tony Blair. You could also read the Senate speeches by Republican and Democrat leaders.

Now Gates is trying to suppress free speech:

Obama was asked by a reporter about a direct telephone appeal made on Thursday by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Jones asking him not to go ahead with the Koran burning.

"My hope is that this individual prays on it and refrains from it," the president said.

I think that Gates is going to get Americans killed by giving encouragement to terrorists. He is effectively telling them that our war was not legitimate, and that they can use threats of violence to intimidate us into suppressing Christian beliefs that might be offensive to non-Christians.