Is Defense Secretary Gates Going Rogue?

After being defeated in his attempt to prevent US action against Libya, it seems as if Defense Secretary Robert Gates is going a bit rogue. Obama has called for Israel to remain calm in dealing with the recent spate of terror attacks, while today in Israel Gates seemed to suggest that Israel strike back.

Yesterday when offering his condolences to Israel for the Palestinian bombing of a Jerusalem bus station, President Obama gave a subtle tweak to Israel for its retaliation against the on-going barrage of missiles and mortars being fired into Israel from courtesy of Hamas terrorists in Gaza.   He finished his condolences to Israel with this message:

 We also express our deepest condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties.

Those Palestinian civilians were Hamas human shields as the IDF report described. 

On Tuesday, IDF forces responded to projectiles fired at Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip. The attack took place in the afternoon when projectiles were fired toward the area of the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. In response, IDF forces fired mortars to the point from which rockets were launched resulting in the injury of uninvolved civilians. Among them was the boy taken for medical treatment in Israel today.

The IDF regrets harming any uninvolved civilians but stresses that it is the Hamas terror organization which chooses to operate from the heart of civilian activity and uses people as a human shield. The event is currently being investigated.

 Gates is in Israel today where he met with Defense Minister Barack After the two met, Gates seemed to ignore Obama's "we stress the importance of calm" endorsed Israeli action to retaliate against the Hamas strikes,  



"No sovereign state can tolerate having rockets fired at its people," Was that a message to his boss?