Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Gates Closing: Teller Window, Too?

Michael Brenner | Posted 06.18.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Robert Gates, Nato, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Defense Spending, Defense Budget, Obama Defense Spending, Secretary of Defense, Al Qaeda, Politics News

Robert Gates' tenure as secretary of defense has bracketed a turbulent period in American politics only to be resurrected at death's door by heavy doses of steroids provided by the victims.

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Losing Our Sons and Daughters: The Cost of Afghanistan

Jim Wallis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Killing, Sojourners, Email Updates, War in Afghanistan, Washington, Politics, Perspective, American, Washington Post, Dissent, Rediscovering Values, America, Battle of Fallujah, Government, John F Kelly, Indifference, Military Assistant, Robert M Kelly, Military Officer, Urban Battle, Sacrifices, Civilian Casualties, Change, Taliban, Landmine, Military, Sons and Daughters, Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, Parents, Politics News

The small percentage of Americans who have borne the brunt of the human costs of our Afghan war, the utter corruption of the government we are supporting, and the toll in civilian casualties all make the continuing of this war immoral.

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Obama Administration Asks Court To Uphold 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

AP | LISA LEFF | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Pentagon, US Military, Gays in Military, Log Cabin Republicans, Attorney General Eric Holder, Justice Department, Eric Holder, Barack Obama, Federal Appeals Court, Virginia Phillips, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Military, Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Dadt, Tony West, Politics News

SAN FRANCISCO — The Obama administration may have concluded that laws targeting gay Americans are presumably unconstitutional, but it still aske...

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Gates: North Korea Will Pose Direct Threat To U.S.

AP | ANNE GEARAN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Robert Gates North Korea, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, North Korea US. North Korea Attacks, North Korea Threat, Robert Gates, North Korea Missile, North Korea, World News

BEIJING — North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles poses a direct threat to the United States, Defense Secretary Rob...

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3 Comments on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs' Memorandum

Hal Donahue | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wounded Warrior, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Army, Brac, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Navy, Military Healthcare, Walter Reed, Politics News

As the Department of Defense squanders over 1.5 Billion dollars on the less than average New Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Admiral M...

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Defense Mobilizes Louisiana National Guard to Fight BP Oil Spill

Georgianne Nienaber | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Deputy Secretary of Interior David Hayes, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, Bp, Louisiana, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, George W. Bush, Admiral Mike Mullen, British Petroleum, Transocean/Deepwater Horizon, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Carol Browner, Fishing Industry, Rear Admiral Mary Landry, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Noaa, St. Bernard ParishGulf of Mexico, Plaquemines, Green News

The US Defense Department authorized the deployment of the Louisiana National Guard to help local communities in the cleanup and removal of oil. Whether critical habitats can be protected from contamination is the question of the hour.

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Obama's 'Nuclear Spring'

Jim Wallis | Posted 05.25.2011

Let us hope and pray that Obama's recent nuclear disarmament accomplishments are steps on the path to the eventual abolition of all nuclear weapons.

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Senator McCain Is Out of Step on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Senator John McCain, General Colin Powell, Admiral Mike Mullen, General-John-Shalikashvili, Politics News

As a veteran, and having spoken with many of the men and women who have served and want to serve their country openly, I can tell Sen. John McCain's words and actions on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are from a bygone era.

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Robert Gates Succession: Obama Passes Executive Order Changing Rules In Event Of Defense Secretary's Death

AP | ANNE FLAHERTY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gates, Robert Gates, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Robert Gates Succession, Barack Obama, Barack Obama Executive Order, Secretary of Defense Succession, Secretary of Defense, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Who would act as defense secretary if the 66-year-old Robert Gates died or resigned and his deputy, Bill Lynn, couldn't do it? Pre...

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Con Games: Don't Ask, Don't Tell About Military Spending

Michael Conniff | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: F-35, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Don't Ask Don't Tell, F-22, Defense Spending, Department of Defense, Politics News

We need to scrutinize the Pentagon's budget every way possible to find a way to cut costs. If we don't take scalpel in hand, then we have no chance whatsoever of achieving fiscal sanity.

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The "Goldilocks Principle" and Afghan War Options

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John McCain, George Ball, George Kahin, Rand Corporation, Afghanistan Occupation, President Barack Obama, Juan Cole, Lindsey Graham, The Nation, Peter Baker, Afghanistan War, William Polk, American War in Afghanistan, Nato, American Military Forces, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Goldilocks Principle, William Westmoreland, Richard Nixon, Vietnam War, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, New York Times, General Stanley McChrystal, Joe Lieberman, Afghanistan, Lyndon Johnson, Undersecretary of State George Ball, Helene Cooper, Robert Dryfuss, Vietnamization, Politics News

General McChrystal's recommendation for more troops and material has a distinctly Westmorelandian flavor to it. If approved, it could create an additional $40 to$80 billion per annum in war costs.

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It's a Runoff, Now What? Parsing the Impacts of the Presidential Rematch in Afghanistan

Vikrum Aiyer | Posted 05.25.2011

A coalition government in Afghanstan, while supposedly offering the best of both worlds, tacitly condones an illegitimate election and would require America to broker power among competing personalities.

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Gates Seeks Saudi Arabia's Assistance With Pakistan

New York Times | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan Taliban, Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Pakistan, Taliban, Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Robert Gates, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Crisis, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Hillary Clinton, Advocacy, World News

As the Obama administration prepares for talks this week with senior leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates flew to ...

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Will President Obama's Defense Budget Bankrupt America?

Sheldon Filger | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Financial Crisis, u.s. Military Spending, u.s. Defense Budget, Pentagon Budget, Economic Crisis, President Obama, Politics News

At a time when the US in sinking deeper in debt amid a devastating economic crisis, does a bloated military budget that requires Chinese loans to finance represent a true enhancement of national security?

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President Obama Offers Iran "A Promise of a New Day"

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: "A New Year/a New Beginning, The Tonight Show, Central Intelligence Agency, Iran-US Diplomacy, Obama's New Year Greeting to Iranians, Cia, John Bolton, US-Iran Relations, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Nowruz, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Obama's Message to Iran, Israel Defense Forces, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran, Benny Morris, Iran-American Relations, Avigdor Lieberman, Mohammed Mossedegh, Iranian New Year, Aipac, Zbigniew Brzezenski, David Broder, Thomas Friedman, Norman Podhoretz, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Bibi Netanyahu, Obama's Message to Iran, John Foster Dulles, President Barack Obama, Charles Freeman, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, Idf, Jay Leno, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Israel, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Iranians, Shah, Savak, Obama's Statement to Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, World News

Obama's promise of a new day in U.S.-Iranian relations must be given the opportunity to bear fruit free from outside intervention.

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Don't Let an Ambush Happen Again, Mr. President

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Congress, Amy Brian, Colin Powell, Samm Nunn, President Obama, Admiral Mike Mullen, Iraq, Rotc, Kansas National Guard, House Armed Services Committee, Dadt, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Todd Belok, Rep. Ellen Tauscher, President Clinton, US Navy, Politics News

If President Obama plans to keep his campaign promise, the White House and the Pentagon had better get on the same page now, and be ready to face the tough questioning sure to come.

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Afghanistan: Where Empires (US, USSR) Go To Die

Tomdispatch.com | By Tom Engelhardt | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jihad, Kabul, Bush Administration, Pakistan, President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Ussr, Russia, Afghanistan, United States, Empires, President George W. Bush, Mujahideen, Week in Review, World News

It is now a commonplace -- as a lead article in the New York Times's Week in Review pointed out recently -- that Afghanistan is "the graveyard of empi...

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Al-Qaeda A Threat To Upcoming Iraqi Elections

AFP | By Arthur MacMillan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Al-Qaida, Upcoming Elections in Iraq, Provincial Elections, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Iraqi Elections, Terrorist Threat, Iraq, Al-Qaeda, Peaceful Transition of Power, Stability, World News

Al-Qaeda remains a threat to this weekend's election in Iraq, a senior army commander warned on Tuesday, as the United States said it expected its tro...

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