Gates: Administration Critics view of US Military Capabilities in Benghazi “Cartoonish”

Juan Cole 05/13/2013

Former Bush and Obama administrations secretary of defense Bob Gates, a lifelong Republican, replied to some of the GOP fantasies about the possibility of a US military mission into Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. He pointed out that successful military insertions require substantial planning and knowledge of the environment into which troops are being put. He called the imagination of US military capabilities on the Hill “cartoonish.”

The Interview with CBS’s Face the Nation is here:

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page