Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Colorado Springs Gazette
March 2, 2007
Commencement speech follows that of former defense secretary
By Tom Roeder, The Gazette
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will speak during the May 30 graduation for the Air Force Academy’s class of 2007.
The secretary, named in November to replace Donald Rumsfeld, is a former CIA director who has in recent months overseen a surge of troops in Iraq in a plan to clear cities of insurgents. He’s also following Rumsfeld to the academy podium. Rumsfeld addressed cadets last year, urging them and other Americans to support President Bush’s policies in battling terrorist groups and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our country has sent its finest young men and women in defense of the ideal that people, when faced with paths leading to either tyranny or freedom, will forever choose freedom,” Rumsfeld said.
Gates has been portrayed by the administration as a reformer brought in to rectify mistakes in Iraq. It will be the secretary’s first official visit to the academy.
Before his current position, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University. He has also wrote the memoir “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.”
Top administration officials have rotated through the academy for graduation visits. Bush spoke in 2004 followed by Vice President Dick Cheney in 2005.
While presidents traditionally pack Falcon Stadium for their graduating addresses, defense secretaries have traditionally drawn modest crowds. That means tickets for the 2007 event should be easier to obtain.
Details of graduation events, including plans for ticket distribution, should be finalized in the next two months.
March 2, 2007
Commencement speech follows that of former defense secretary
By Tom Roeder, The Gazette
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will speak during the May 30 graduation for the Air Force Academy’s class of 2007.
The secretary, named in November to replace Donald Rumsfeld, is a former CIA director who has in recent months overseen a surge of troops in Iraq in a plan to clear cities of insurgents. He’s also following Rumsfeld to the academy podium. Rumsfeld addressed cadets last year, urging them and other Americans to support President Bush’s policies in battling terrorist groups and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our country has sent its finest young men and women in defense of the ideal that people, when faced with paths leading to either tyranny or freedom, will forever choose freedom,” Rumsfeld said.
Gates has been portrayed by the administration as a reformer brought in to rectify mistakes in Iraq. It will be the secretary’s first official visit to the academy.
Before his current position, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University. He has also wrote the memoir “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.”
Top administration officials have rotated through the academy for graduation visits. Bush spoke in 2004 followed by Vice President Dick Cheney in 2005.
While presidents traditionally pack Falcon Stadium for their graduating addresses, defense secretaries have traditionally drawn modest crowds. That means tickets for the 2007 event should be easier to obtain.
Details of graduation events, including plans for ticket distribution, should be finalized in the next two months.