How about drafting Bob Gates for president?

Robert Gates, the retiring Secretary of Defense appointed by Dubyah and retained by Barack Obama, has let our NATO "allies" have it right in the chops in his valedictory speech to his fellow defense ministers of the alliance.

Questioning the viability and future of NATO, Gates excoriated our allies for lacking the political will to carry their fair share of the financial burdens of NATO and instead cutting their defense budgets, counting on the United States to take up the slack.

Gates has made no secret of his frustration and disgust with the restrictions other NATO nations have placed on the missions on which their troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere can be dispatched, and the general lack the political will necessary for the alliance to continue to exist, much less succeed. "Future U.S. political leaders - those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me - may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost," SecDef told the meeting.

About time somebody let our often sanctimonious and unanppreciative "allies" off. If Gates needs a new job, there's one coming open next year that has a nice white mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue as one of its perks. Having served as SecDef and as DCI, as well as Deputy National Security Advisor to President George H.W. Bush, his foreign policy and national security credentials might even be better than Bush 43's were.

ADDENDUM: Good grief! Even the New York Times approves!

HT: Drudge, Real Clear Politics