I'm already a big fan of Defense Secretary Gates for his attempts to cut useless and expensive programs (boondoggles) at the Pentagon and his lobbying on behalf of State and USAID but the quotes he's delivered on the wikileaks controversy quite simply made my day. Said Robert Gates when asked about Wikileaks publication of secret diplomatic cables:
"Every other government in the world knows the United States government leaks like a sieve, and it has for a long time...
When we went to real congressional oversight of intelligence in the mid-'70s, there was a broad view that no other foreign intelligence service would ever share information with us again if we were going to share it all with the Congress. Those fears all proved unfounded.
Now, I've heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think -- I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it's in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets...
Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest."
Favorite. Sec Def. Ever.
Both his candor and sense of proportion are well appreciated. Two virtues I'd like to see more in our public discourse. Secretary Gates delivered these remarks at a press conference for DADT repeal and its worth reading for its intended content alone but these wikileaks quotes are priceless. The transcript of the press conference can be found here.
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