I like this guy

It looks like Robert Gates, our new Secretary of Defense, has candor and wisdom, according to these snippets from his confirmation hearing reported by God's Politics:

... Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who will become chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the next Congress, asked Gates: "Do you believe that we are currently winning in Iraq?" Gates replied, "No, sir." ...
...
When he was asked, "Do you believe the Iranians are trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability?" Gates answered, "Yes, sir, I do." But to the question, "Do you support an attack on Iran?" he replied, "I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable. And I think that the consequences of a conflict — a military conflict with Iran could be quite dramatic. And therefore, I would counsel against military action, except as a last resort and if we felt that our vital interests were threatened."

Let's give the president credit for upgrading his cabinet. And let's hope that Gates's candor and wisdom is contagious.