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Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told CBS News that Republican lawmakers who are blasting President Barack Obama's administration for failing to take military action during last September's surprise attacks in Benghazi have a "cartoonish" view of the military.

"I listened to the testimony of [Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta] and [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey]," Gates explained to CBS host Bob Schieffer in an interview that aired on Sunday. "And, frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were."

"We don't have a ready force standing by in the Middle East -- despite all the turmoil that's going on -- with planes on strip alert, troops ready to deploy at a moment's notice. And so, getting somebody there in a timely way would have been very difficult, if not impossible."

He continued: "And, frankly, I've heard, 'Why didn't you just fly a fighter jet over and try and scare them with the noise or something?' Well, given the number of surface to air missiles that have disappeared from [former Libya dictator Muammar] Gaddafi's arsenals, I would not have approved sending an aircraft, a single aircraft, over Benghazi under those circumstances."

Gates pointed out that others had suggested that the military could have sent in Special Forces or some other small group.

"Based on everything I've read, people really didn't know what was going on in Benghazi contemporaneously, and to send some small number of Special Forces or other troops in without knowing what the environment is, without knowing what the threat is, without having any intelligence in terms of what is actually going on on the ground, I think, would have been very dangerous," the former defense secretary observed. "And personally, I would not have approved that."

"It's sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces. The one thing that our forces are noted for is planning and preparation before we send people in harm's way. And there just wasn't time to do that."

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Never mind the latest disturbing and chilling news that the Obama administration believes they've got the right to be judge, jury and executioner with this drone program of theirs, all in the name of fighting this endless "war on terror." Sen. Lindsey Graham is just fine with that. Graham appeared on Sean Hannity's show on Fox to continue ranting and raving about their drummed up fake controversy over the attack in Benghazi. This horse was beaten to death a long time ago, but that didn't stop Hannity and Graham from declaring that "a major bombshell was revealed" during Panetta's testimony this Thursday.

Here's the way Fox covered this interview: Where Was President Obama During the Benghazi Attack? Hannity Discusses With Sen. Lindsey Graham:

On Capitol Hill yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is looking into the Pentagon’s response to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

The most revealing piece of information to come out of the testimony was when Panetta said that President Obama was absent on the night of the attack, in which four Americans were killed. Panetta and Dempsey said they briefed Obama during a pre-scheduled meeting at 5pm ET on that day, as events in Benghazi had just started to unfold. They said there was no communication with the president until after the attack was over more than eight hours later.

Last night, Sean Hannity discussed Obama’s absence with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who questioned Panetta at length about why the president was apparently not engaged as the attack unfolded.

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House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Sunday said he had made a mistake by suggesting America's top military brass were being dishonest when they said they supported President Barack Obama's budget cuts.

"I totally misspoke," Ryan admitted to ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "It was not the impression I meant to give."

During a budget summit in Washington on Thursday, Ryan had lashed out at the generals for presenting a budget that he said they didn't really believe in.

"We don’t think the generals are giving us their true advice," Ryan declared. "We don’t think the generals believe that their budget is really the right budget."

Later that day, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey had a sharp response to Ryan's comments.

"There’s a difference between having someone say they don’t believe what you said versus … calling us, collectively, liars," Gen. Dempsey explained to reporters.

"My response is: I stand by my testimony. This was very much a strategy-driven process to which we mapped the budget."