Triumph| More...
 

Robert Gates

David McKiernan Steps Down From Top Afghanistan Command Post

AP | PAULINE JELINEK and ANNE GEARAN | Posted 06.11.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs, Advocacy, David McKiernan, Gen. David McKiernan, Gen. David D. McKiernan, General Mckiernan, Mckiernan, Afghanistan War, Obama Afghanistan, War in Afghanistan, Stanley McCrystal, Gen. Stanley McCrystal, Robert Gates, World News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama fired the top U.S. general in Afghanistan on Monday, replacing him with a former special forces commander in...

Read Whole Story

Aboard A C-17 To Turkey

Katie Couric | Posted 06.08.2009 | Media

Read More: Turkey, Katie Couric Turkey, Katie Couric, Troops, Iraq, Robert Gates, Media News
Katie Couric

Words like sacrifice, dedication and patriotism have become so overused in recent years they've almost become white noise. Coming here and meeting the troops reminds me what those words mean.

Read Post

After US Strikes, Afghans Describe "Tractor Trailers Full of Pieces of Human Bodies"

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 06.07.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Gen. David McKiernan, Afghanistan Air Strike, Red Cross, Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari, Farah-Province, Taliban, Barack Obama, World News, Breaking News, Afghanistan War, Red Crescent, Robert Gates, Afghanistan Bombing, Icrc, David McKiernan, International Committee of the Red Cross, World News
Jeremy Scahill

As rage spreads in Afghanistan after US bombing that killed up to 130 people, unnamed Pentagon officials are spinning another cover-up. Defiant Obama moves ahead with troop increase.

Read Post

US troops Won't Be Sent To Pakistan: Robert Gates

AP | LARA JAKES | Posted 06.07.2009 | World

Read More: Gates Afghanistan, US Troops, Pakistan, Gates Us Troops, War Wire, Camp Leatherneck, US Troops Pakistan, Aghanistan, Robert Gates, Us Troops Afghanistan, World News

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — There are no plans to deploy U.S. ground troops to Pakistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, ...

Read Whole Story

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Katie Couric | Posted 06.05.2009 | Media

Read More: Katie Couric Middle East, Robert Gates, Saudi Arabia, Katie Couric Robert Gates, Katie Couric, Media News
Katie Couric

So far the trip has been great. It's fun to be back working with people from the Pentagon, even though the personnel there has turned over many times since I covered the beat in 1989.

Read Post

Gates Seeks Saudi Arabia's Assistance With Pakistan

New York Times | Posted 06.05.2009 | World

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 ...

Read Whole Story

Surge in Pakistan Violence: U.S. Central Command Warns Patrick Cronin to Stay Home

Steve Clemons | Posted 06.05.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Robert Gates, James Jones, Pakistan, David Petraeus, Patrick Cronin, Dennis Blair, Asif Ali Zardari, India, Nuclear Controls, Afghanistan, Obama, Michael Mullen, Drone Attacks, US Central Command, World News
Steve Clemons

U.S. intelligence fears an uptick in suicide bombings over the next week directly targeting hotels and high population centers where foreigners populate. The fact is that it easier today to visit Baghdad than Pakistan.

Read Post

Middle East Trip: Day One

Katie Couric | Posted 06.04.2009 | Media

Read More: Katie Couric, Robert Gates, Cairo, Egypt, Gates Middle East Trip, Middle East, Mideast, Cbs, Media News
Katie Couric

I arrived in Cairo this afternoon. Secretary Gates will be meeting with President Mubarak about Egypt's role in the Arab-Israeli conflict and about the problem of smuggling supplies into Gaza through underground tunnels.

Read Post

Jason Linkins

Robert Gates Defends Obama Doctrine: A "Humble America" With A "Big Stick"

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 06.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Diplomacy, Robert Gates, Afghanistan, Media Criticism, Pakistan, Diplomacy, Fareed Zakaria, Sunday Morning Talk Shows, Barack Obama, Politics News

Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday, granting host Zakaria an hour long interview that was one of the most deta...

Read Whole Story

Obama's First 100 Days: A Start On Guantanamo, But Not Enough

Andy Worthington | Posted 06.04.2009 | World

Read More: Preventive Detention, Geneva Conventions, Pentagon Guantanamo, War on Terror, Algeria, President Obama, Guantanamo, Taliban, Binyam Mohamed, Omar Khadr, Eric Holder, Habeas Corpus, Obama Executive Orders, Dick Cheney, Politics, Libya, UN Convention Against Torture, Enemy Combatants, Robert Gates, Col. Patrick Parrish, Obama Guantanamo, Saudi Arabia, US Senate, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, Col. James Pohl, Judge Reggie B. Walton, Closing Guantanamo, Pentagon, US Supreme Court, Tunisia, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Neal Katyal, Guantanamo Detainees, Susan Crawford, David Addington, Ayman Batarfi, Justice Department, US District Court, Boumediene v. Bush, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Al Qaeda, Military Commissions, Guantanamo Uighurs, Lawrence Wilkerson, Judge Richard Leon, Uzbekistan, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Obama First 100 Days, China, 100 Days, World News
Andy Worthington

Just Binyam Mohamed and the Yemeni doctor, Ayman Batarfi have been cleared for release. At this rate, of course, it will take decades to close Guantánamo.

Read Post

Gates: It Would Be Tough To Ask For More Troops In Afghanistan

AP | Posted 06.01.2009 | Politics

Read More: US Troops, Afghanistan, Robert Gates, Us Troops Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Gates, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it would be difficult to request more U.S. troops in Afghanistan in six to 12 months. "It woul...

Read Whole Story

Afghan Troop Increase "Would Be A Hard Sell": Gates

Reuters | Posted 06.01.2009 | World

Read More: Afghan Troop Surge, Barack Obama, Robert Gates, Afghanistan, Afganistan Forces, Afganistan Troop Increase, Afghanistan War, World News

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it could be difficult for the United States to add troops in Afghanistan beyond the 68,000 already approved, ...

Read Whole Story

US Won't Release 50-100 Gitmo Detainees: Gates

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR | Posted 05.31.2009 | World

Read More: Robert Gates, Obama Guantanamo, Foreign Affairs, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Obama Gitmo, Gitmo Detainees, Gitmo, Advocacy, Gates Trials Detainees, Release Gitmo to Us, World News

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities began what will be hotly contested discussions this week on where in the U.S. to send Guantanamo detainees who ...

Read Whole Story

The Failure of Obama's First 100 Days in Afghanistan

ZP Heller | Posted 05.30.2009 | World

Read More: David Petraeus, Andrew Bacevich, John Mueller, Barack Obama, Afghanistan, Pakistan, 100 Days, Taliban, Rick Reyes, Robert Gates, Obama Afghanistan, World News
ZP Heller

We haven't seen a president willing to break with his predecessor by prioritizing regional diplomacy and humanitarian aid above military escalation. Here's why Obama gets a 'D' for his first 100 days in Afghanistan.

Read Post

The Victory of the Neoconservatives

Bernard I. Finel | Posted 05.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq War, Neocons, Neoconservatives, Robert Gates, Defense Budget, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, Politics News
Bernard I. Finel

Let us make no mistake; the new defense budget unveiled earlier this month marks the final victory of the neoconservative worldview.

Read Post

Gates To Nominate NSA Chief To Head New Cyber Command

Wall Street Journal | SIOBHAN GORMAN | Posted 05.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Robert Gates, Cyber Command, Politics News

Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to nominate the director of the National Security Agency to head a new Pentagon Cyber Command, which will coordin...

Read Whole Story

Gates Backed Releasing Torture Memos

Washington Post | Ann Scott Tyson | Posted 05.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Torture Memos Release, Cia Memos, Cia, Robert Gates, Torture Memos, Politics News

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates indicated Thursday that he supported the release of sensitive memos on detainee interrogation methods last week beca...

Read Whole Story

Obama Defense Contractor Battle Only Just Begun: AP

AP | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted 05.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: F-22, F-22 Raptor, F-22 Cuts, Defense Contractors, Obama Defense Contracts, Defense Contracting, Defense Department, Department of Defense, Robert Gates, Gates F-22, Gates Budget, Defense Budget, Obama Defense Budget, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has chalked up a quick victory in its drive to kill an expensive jet fighter better suited for the Cold Wa...

Read Whole Story

The Gates Revolution

Adam Elkus | Posted 05.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq War, Obama Defense Budget, Robert Gates, National Security, US Military, Department of Defense, Military, Army, Politics News
Adam Elkus

Gates is doing something far more radical than just canceling big-ticket weapons programs: he's finally fusing theory and policy.

Read Post

Lawrence Korb and I Debate Military Escalation in Afghanistan (Video)

Katrina vanden Heuvel | Posted 05.21.2009 | World

Read More: Lawrence Korb, The Nation, Brave New Foundation, Troops, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Afghan, Taliban, Center for American Progress, Gilles Dorronsoro, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Escalation, Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films, Robert Pape, Katrina Vanden Huevel, Robert Gates, Video, World News
Katrina vanden Heuvel

I believe the more responsible and effective strategy moving forward is to take US-led military escalation off the table, begin to withdraw US troops and support a regional diplomatic solution.

Read Post

Navy Seal Sharpshooters Can't End the Somali Crisis

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 05.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warfare, Somali Pirates, Poverty, Navy Seals, President Obama, Non Government Organizations, Sharpshooters, High Seas Gangsterism, Somalia, Un, Robert Gates, Kenya, Politics News
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Obama's tough talk to frontally combat piracy is welcome. But the far bigger problem remains the never ending crisis of a broken nation that pushes thousands of men to high sea gangsterism.

Read Post

After Pirates, Tea Partiers, Obama To Fight Vikings, Dinosaurs

Lee Stranahan | Posted 05.15.2009 | Comedy

Read More: Robert Gates, Tea Party, Norm Coleman, Helen Thomas, President Obama, Comedy News
Lee Stranahan

Republicans were critical of the President even though they were unaware of the specifics of what they were critical of.

Read Post

Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet | Posted 05.11.2009 | World

Read More: Russia, Hugo Chavez, Turkey, Algeria, Pakistan, Iran, Georgia, Ukraine, Barack Obama, Robert Gates, Baitullah Mehsud, Moldova, Somalia, Azerbaijan, Israel, North Korea, World News
Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet

The Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: Turning East - Turning West: Brewing Revolutions and Breakaway Provinces Facts: Up to 100,000 protesters h...

Read Post

Jason Linkins

Scritti Politti: April 7, 2009

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Abortion, Department of Defense, Jake Tapper, Allen Stanford, Abortion Rights, NCAA College Basketball, Roe vs Wade, Defense Budget, Video, Detroit Lions, Detroit, Matt Drudge, Defense Spending, Robert Gates, Mark Halperin, Rick Warren, Politics News

It's been so long since I've bothered to read The Page that yesterday's instance of Mark Halperin using Time magazine as a venue for his kindergarten ...

Read Whole Story

Pentagon Purging Contractors, Hiring Thousands Of New Employees

Government Executive | Posted 05.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Gates Defense Budget, Robert Gates, Pentagon Budget, Defense Budget, Pentagon Contractors, Politics News

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended major changes in the Pentagon's procurement priorities and acquisition practices, and said the de...

Read Whole Story