Frankly, I was astounded to see an OpEd News commentary piece prominently displayed above the fold on the Google News site.

“Brushing aside questions about Robert Gates’ past involvement in the Iran-Contra debacle, and ignoring his role in the funneling of intelligence to Saddam during the Iraq/Iran war, and overcoming their own hesitance 15 years ago to advance him to the position of CIA director, the Senate Armed Forces Committee voted unanimously for the former analyst to replace the primary architect of every aspect of Bush’s military muckraking abroad and assume responsibility for Rumsfeld’s war against Iraq, effective with the anticipated vote of the full Senate later this week,” writes Ron Fullwood.

There it is, in one paragraph, all the reasons Gates should be doing the perp walk, not promenading before our Congress critters, many if not most who should also be rigged out in orange jumpsuits, mostly for supporting the neocon “war” against Iraq, death toll currently around 650,000.

Mr. Fullwood points to a New York Times transcript of the Gates softball session. Asked about the contrived “war on terror,” Gates said, in response to a question posed by the “Democrat,” soon to be “Independent,” forever a Zionist shill, Joe Lieberman: “I think that it is imperative in this long war on terrorism that we face, that could go on for a generation, that there be a bipartisan agreement.” Of course, Gates, after he tacks up his various diplomas and family photos in his Pentagon office, will take for granted this disgusting “bipartisan agreement” to invade small countries and torture dirt farmers and goat herders in far-flung backwater states. Democrats are onboard, never mind that average American, according to recent polls, is sick and tired of the neocon clash of civilizations, want the troops to come home, and rate the threat of terrorism low on the list of concerns.

As for the rest of the media, or the slice of it featured on Google—a corporation we learn enjoyed a bit of seed money from the CIA, according to Robert Steele, a former CIA case officer—we hear more of the same, and little of it to do with the fact Gates is an Iran-Contra reprobate and a warmonger who wanted to bomb the people of Nicaragua.

“The nearly universal (and bipartisan) relief at the departure of Donald Rumsfeld ensured that Robert Gates would have an easy confirmation hearing,” reports the International Herald Tribune. “He agreed with various senators that the United States is not winning in Iraq, that politicians in Baghdad need to be pressured into negotiating a political settlement and that the Pentagon botched the post-invasion by failing to send enough troops and committing other now infamous errors.” In essence, the same old neocon party line. But then, these days, our Congress critters apparently like hearing the same thing over and over, sort of like a nostalgist playing the same song forevermore.

For Democrats, Gates is refreshing, never mind he is responsible, along with the scurrilous Ollie North and the dead Ronald Reagan, for unleashing the Contras, who killed around 30,000 Nicaraguans. “During my four years as a ‘contra director, it was premeditated policy to terrorize civilian noncombatants to prevent them from cooperating with the Government,” admits Edgar Chamorro. “Hundreds of civilian murders, tortures and rapes were committed in pursuit of this policy, of which the ‘contra’ leaders and their CIA superiors were well aware.”

Naturally, no mention of this, although the long-term congressional growth, Sen. Carl Levin, soon to become the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, gushed that Gates’ testimony was a “welcome breath of honest, candid realism,” never mind he voted against Gates’ confirmation as CIA director in 1991.

“For now, Gates’ chief strength—and it’s significant—is that he’s not the man he’ll replace. Given Rumsfeld’s radioactivity in Washington and around the world, that should give Gates a useful honeymoon,” opines USA Today. In the meantime, more Iraqis will die horrible deaths, more babies will be born with horrible deformities, thanks to depleted uranium, and the morgues will continue to overflow with the dead, killed by U.S.-trained death squads.

“And so it came to pass, in the 12th month of the sixth year of the reign of Bush, that a prophet came forth to deliver us from the war in Babylon,” writes a sarcastic Dana Milbank for the CIA’s favorite newspaper, the Washington Post. “Actually, it was only Bob Gates at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, but the rapturous senators seemed to regard the president’s second defense secretary as a harbinger of the Second Coming.”

“We’re very pleased,” Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) said twice.

“Very, very pleased,” added soon-to-be-chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

“We’re very grateful,” proffered John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“We’re all very impressed,” Warner continued.

“Very proud,” contributed Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). “Very enthusiastic … and very happy.”

Gates earned these very, very nice words because of one very important attribute: He is not Donald Rumsfeld.

How utterly—although predictably—disgusting.

Obviously, with bear-hugging and back-slapping Republicans and Democrats such as this, the “war” against the Iraqi people will continue, at least for the next two years, and probably much longer, well into the presidency of Hillary or whatever Democrat is selected by the ruling elite come 2008.