Full Senate Confirms Gates 95-2

95-2. That's how it went down. Rick Santorum and Jim Bunning voted against the confirmation. So why did Santorum vote against Robert Gates for the Secretary of Defense position? Well, it's for the same reason that Former Spook was not impressed.

Gates didn't take the threat of a nuclear Iran seriously enough. From Santorum:

Speaking on the Senate floor after the vote, Mr. Santorum said he thought that Mr. Gates did not fully understand the dangers of “Islamic fascism” in the Middle East. He said that Iran and “its client state of Syria” were stirring violence in Iraq, and that the Iraq Study Group’s recommendation to engage Iran and Syria was “a prescription for surrender.”

That tracks closely with Former Spook's analysis as well.

My earlier take on Gates and his performance highlighted the Committee's weak questioning and their embrace of Gates because he was not Rumsfeld - not necessarily because of his worldview or consideration of the seriousness of threats posed by Syria, Iran, or China.

Bill's bites has more.

Technorati: gates, bush, rumsfeld,confirmation, politics, robert gates.