I want to submit for the record an extraordinary speech by Robert Gates in 1992, when he was head of the CIA, on the danger of the politicization of intelligence.
I really think you need to rethink a strategy about a safe zone, a no-fly zone, some protection from Assad's barrel bombs.
Assad and ISIS are evil twins. ISIS largely came into existence in reaction to Assad.
it makes the ISIS look invincible and more powerful, and that's--helps in their recruiting, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Which only exacerbates the sectarian conflict, which makes ISIS look good to the Sunni chiefs in Anbar.
We are doing that to ourselves.
Changing the process is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Clearly, if the middle class has more money to spend, that is economic.
The X factor in all of this, it seems to me, is growth.
Targeting our budget-balancing efforts on discretionary spending... is really missing the big picture.
We are fighting over a smaller and smaller share of the budget.