The news reports that Obama is leaning towards staying with a bloodthirsty war monger like Robert Gates for the Department of Defense are absolutely sickening. I was already beginning to wonder if Obama is serious about any real change in this country after he made Rahm Emanuel his Chief of Staff and is pushing a lot of other Clinton Administration retreads.

If Obama really does pick war hawks like Gates and Hillary Clinton in addition to the fanatically pro war Emanuel, I'm not too optimistic about even the partial withdrawal Obama promised during his campaign. I'm not the only one who is worried and frustrated. From the Los Angeles Times 11/20/08:

"Obama ran his campaign around the idea the war was not legitimate, but it sends a very different message when you bring in people who supported the war from the beginning," said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of the 54-chapter Iraq Veterans Against the War.

It's pretty bad, according to what is said in the article.

The activists -- key members of the coalition that propelled Obama to the White House -- fear he is drifting from the antiwar moorings of his once-longshot presidential candidacy. Obama has eased the rigid timetable he had set for withdrawing troops from Iraq, and he appears to be leaning toward the center in his candidates to fill key national security posts.

The president-elect has told some Democrats that he expects to take heat from parts of his political base but will not be deterred by it.

Does he really think he will get much support from Democrats in 2012 if 100% of our troops aren't home from Iraq? A president only gets one election to run on hope. The reelection campaign focuses on record and results.

Peace Action West has an Action Alert to try to stop the renomination of Robert Gates. This is terribly important.

Please Take Action Now!

If there are any US troops in Iraq in 2012, Obama's first term will have been a miserable failure, no matter what else he might do.