Well LJ, he is either as you say " afraid of what neocons will say" which is rediculously weak, or he's a liar, or this job is just a little more than he can handle. I see no other choices here.
It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers−out of unorthodoxy
Y'know, I didn't get my morning briefing from him this morning, so the phrase "afraid of what the neocons will say" is from MY throwaway response...Not from the president's lips...
The fact that you see "no other choices" is your lack of intellectual honesty, and is not my problem.