I happen to be one of those Obama supporters who pretty much stands with him through thick and thin. But I do have to say that I think Obama made one of his larger mistakes in trusting Robert Gates, given his close ties to George HW Bush and the favors he likely owes him (not to mention Cheney).
It seems one of those favors may have been called up:
White House ‘not ready’ for nuclear Iran
...
U.S Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned in a secret memo to senior White House officials that the United States does not have a long-term strategy for dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme.
The three page document, written in January, set off intense efforts within the Pentagon, White house and America’s intelligence agecies to come up with new options, including the use of the military, according to the New York Times newspaper. One senior official described teh [really?] report as a "wake up call:, the newspaper reported.
...
Ben rhodes [seriously?] the National Security Council spokesman, said it was "absolutely false" that the memo had led to a reassessment of options. "This administration has been planning for all contingencies regarding Iran for many months," Mr Rhodes told the Associated Press.
This isn't the kind of thing that happens when an administration can trust its SecDef.
It's just not.
Obama has put himself in a very difficult position, in my opinion. Personally, I wouldn't want a man like Gates working for me. There's a leak somewhere, and either the SecDef thinks we're unprepared, he's playing political games (for HW/Cheney), or as Rhodes says above, we never reassessed options as Gates recommended because we do in fact have a classified long term plan and there isn't any need to.
In any case, Robert Gates is making himself a liability and in my opinion intentionally trying to make the administration look bad. And that's a problem.