The Buzz on 'Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War'

I have ordered this book, part of my Christmas bonanza, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, by Robert M. Gates. I ordered it before all the published reviews of it started to appear in the press. Apparently, the book is causing quite a buzz. Here are some examples ... 

Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates, by Greg Jaffe, a reporter for the Washington Post with extensive experience covering the Pentagon. One of the better parts of Jaffe's review is what Secretary Gates had to say about the vice president ...

“I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,”

White House pushes back against claims made in former SECDEF's book, by USA Today writer, David Jackson, which relies heavily on quotes from a National Security Council spokeswoman named Caitlin Hayden. I've read and listened to a lot of, so called 'pushback' from Barack Obama since 2008, and this USA Today article is pretty weak stuff. On the Biden issue, all we're given is that the president disagrees with Gates' criticism, saying that (quoting Ms. Hayden) -

"From his leadership on the Balkans in the Senate, to his efforts to end the war in Iraq, Joe Biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time and has helped advance America's leadership in the world. President Obama relies on his good counsel every day,"

Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama’s leadership in ‘Duty,’ by the famous, Bob Woodward. From Woodward's point of view, 

"It is rare for a former Cabinet member, let alone a defense secretary occupying a central position in the chain of command, to publish such an antagonistic portrait of a sitting president."

And Fox News' Stuart Varney posted a brief synopsis of what seems to be a brewing storm on his Facebook page, saying -

"The Left is now in full, defensive, spin mode. Democrats take their marching orders from the New York Times, and those orders are: attack the bearer of bad news. In fact, the gates' book is devastating to the President's credibility as Commander-in-Chief, as the leader of troops he was committing to battle. His heart wasn't in it. Worse, gates writes that both Hillary Clinton and President Obama considered the surge in Iraq as mainly a political move. They weren't concerned with winning the war. They were concerned with the vote. The politics. I come from a family that for several generations, has served in the military. I am trying to put myself into the shoes of parents here, who saw their sons and daughters volunteer to fight and die, with Barack Obama as Commander-in-Chief. I would not be happy, reading that a defense secretary is calling out the president for putting politics in front of victory."

Megyn Kelly interviews Brit Hume on the subject at the Fox News website.

Commentary Magazine had this to say ...

"Unless the reporters who read advance copies of the book missed something juicier, nothing in Gates’s memoir seems likely to spoil anyone’s presidential aspirations, and I doubt Gates has any interest in doing so anyway. Picking out excerpts and anecdotes can easily skew the perception of the book, especially before the public has had a chance to read it. But the splash being made by these (mostly unsurprising) insider claims is a testament to the credibility Gates has earned over his distinguished career, and suggests the considerable authority his account of these last few years will carry."

With reviews like that out there, I'm looking forward to reading the book.