Article courtesy of Breitbart, written by Ian Hanchett.
Former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and Chuck Hagel criticized the Obama administration’s “operational micromanagement”, “cautiousness and overcorrection, which makes it appear that the United States is hesitant to take action”, and lack of understanding of “the tremendous responsibility the United States has” in interviews for the “Rising Threats: Shrinking Military” special that were broadcast on Wednesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.
Gates said, “It was the operational micromanagement that drove me nuts. Of, White House and NSC staffers calling senior commanders out in the field and asking them questions, of second-guessing commanders.” And “When I was Deputy National Security Advisor, if I would have tried to, even as deputy, if I had tried to call a field commander, going around Dick Cheney, who was Secretary of Defense, or Colin Powell, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, I’d have had my head handed to me, probably personally by the president.”
Gates added that he “told the combatant commanders…If you get calls from the White House staff, you get a call from the president, that’s one thing. That’s totally okay. That’s the chain of command. But you get a call from one — some White House or National Security Council staffer, you tell them to call me instead, and then tell them, oh by the way, go to hell. And that’s directly from the Secretary of Defense.”