Robert Gates said...

By continuing to repeat that the U.S. will not put boots on the ground, the President, in effect, traps himself.

The President does not like having countervailing opinions, he does not like being disagreed with.

I soon learned that the only way I could get significant new or additional equipment to commanders in the field in weeks...

In the end, the Iraqi leadership did not try to get an agreement through their parliament that would have made possible ...