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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

The "Goldilocks Principle" and Afghan War Options

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

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
Joseph A. Palermo

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 10.23.2009 | World

Read More: Senator John Kerry, Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai, Isaf, President Barack Obama, Afghan-Runoff, Taliban, Pashtun, Al Qaeda, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tajik, Rahm Emanuel, Northern Alliance, Nato, Independent Electoral Commission, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, General Stanley McChrystal, Afpak, Kai Eide, Afghan Election Fraud, Afghanistan Karzai Abdullah, Afghanistan Run-Off Election, World News
Vikrum Aiyer

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 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 ...

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Will President Obama's Defense Budget Bankrupt America?

Sheldon Filger | Posted 05.08.2009 | Politics

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
Sheldon Filger

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 04.24.2009 | World

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
Joseph A. Palermo

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 04.02.2009 | Politics

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
Aubrey Sarvis

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 03.08.2009 | World

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 02.27.2009 | World

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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