In his “Morning Edition” report on Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates and his options on Iraq, NPR’s Guy Raz interviews four people for their opinions:
- Gen. Jack Keane (ret.), a former Army vice chief of staff who was involved in the planning of the Iraq war;
- Richard Perle, the former Pentagon advisor who was one of the chief proponents of the Iraq war;
- Danielle Pletka, a fellow at the “center-right” American Enterprise Institute who argued in January 2003 that an invasion of Iraq was needed to show al Qaeda that the “U.S. is a power to be reckoned with”; and
- Gen. Joseph Hoar (ret.), a former CENTCOM chief who — while a critic of the war currently — says “getting out is not the answer”.
Two former military officers, one of whom was involved in planning the war. Two hard-core civilian advocates of the war. That’s some wide-ranging perspective.