Robert Gates

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Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December
Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December
OPINION
Jul 29, 2009 5:57 AM CDT

Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December

Jerusalem gets what Obama doesn't, writes ex-UN ambassador

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Jerusalem recently to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran, but according to John Bolton, "relations between the US and Israel are more strained now than at any time since the 1956 Suez Canal crisis." Israel understands what the Obama administration does not—...

Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq
Gates Makes
Surprise Visit to Iraq
Jul 28, 2009 3:17 AM CDT

Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has landed in Iraq for a surprise visit, the AP reports. He'll meet with troops stationed at a command post in southern Iraq who are largely serving as advisers. He's also expected to see Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and visit the restive Kurdish region....

Obama Picks Up Steam in Congress Over F-22 Funds

Lawmakers had opposed Prez's bid to cut money

(Newser) - In a shift, the White House looks likely to win over Congress in its bid to cut $1.7 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter jet, Politico reports. Congress had looked set to support the measure last week, but the administration is pressing hard with Defense Secretary Robert Gates...

US Army to Add 22K Soldiers
 US Army to Add 22K Soldiers 
Jul 21, 2009 2:16 AM CDT

US Army to Add 22K Soldiers

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is temporarily boosting the Army's ranks with 22,000 new soldiers, reports the Army Times. The increase, which follows a permanent increase of 65,000, will reduce the strain on the forces over the next three years, according to Gates. The hike "will be used...

Gates: Public Won't Stand for 'Long Slog' in Afghanistan

Turnaround must happen within year

(Newser) - Americans aren’t going to put up with a ‘long slog’ in Afghanistan, says Robert Gates: if the public doesn’t see things getting better within a year, support for the war will likely falter, he tells the Los Angeles Times. “After the Iraq experience, nobody is prepared...

Gates Refuses to Ban Smoking in War Zones

Defense secretary rejects Pentagon study's recommendation

(Newser) - American troops in war zones won't have to battle the enemy while suffering nicotine withdrawal, CNN reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is willing to consider some of the recommendations in a Pentagon-commissioned report calling for a totally tobacco-free military, but he has no intention of ordering stressed-out troops in combat...

Obama Vows to Veto His Own Defense Bill Over F-22s

Congress tries to tack on $1.75B for planes

(Newser) - Barack Obama has found himself in the odd position of threatening to veto his own defense spending bill, after senators tacked on a last-minute amendment to spend $1.75 billion on seven F-22 fighter jets, Fox News reports. The jets are outdated, costly to fly, require frequent maintenance, and have...

North Korea Not Preparing Hawaii Missile Launch

But long-term concerns lead Gates to boost islands' defenses

(Newser) - North Korea shows no sign of preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii, four US government officials tell Bloomberg. While satellites tracked preparations for at least a week before the regime's April launch, no similar evidence confirms media reports of a Hawaii-bound missile. Nevertheless, Defense Secretary Robert Gates...

Gates Seeks to Make 'Don't Ask' More Humane

Military may not boot gays outed by jilted lovers, blackmailers

(Newser) - The Obama administration is looking for ways to get around the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that forbids gays from serving openly in the military, CNN reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he is investigating ways to make the policy “more humane,” such as not...

Gates Launches Cyberwar Military Command

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates launched the military's new cyberspace surveillance command yesterday, with a mission to defend military computers and to orchestrate potential cyber attacks on enemy nations, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the short run, the US Cyber Command will be part of the Strategic Command, which oversees...

US Fortifies Hawaii Against N. Korea Threat

Gates moves anti-missile system to islands ... just in case

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he is positioning defenses near Hawaii just in case North Korea fires a missile across the Pacific toward the island state. Gates says he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could...

Gates: US Won't Tolerate a Nuclear North Korea

Gates warns N Korea as satellites spot missile being moved

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that the US will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, Reuters reports. Gates said any transfer of nuclear material from North Korea to another country or group would be considered "a grave threat." "We will not stand idly by as North...

Afghan Taliban Have Momentum: Gates

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the...

Gates Praises Soldier in Pink Boxers

(Newser) - A US soldier who took up the fight against the Taliban sans pants and clad in “I Love NY” pink boxers got a vote of his support from the nation’s defense chief last night, reports Reuters. “Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink...

Gates' Laser Focus on Wars Reshapes Pentagon

(Newser) - Bush-holdover Robert Gates is using his position in the Obama administration to try to remake Washington’s biggest bureaucracy, refocusing it on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. Gates has pushed the Pentagon to shift from preparing for high-tech conventional wars of the future to...

Gates: Obama's Most Effective Secretary
Gates: Obama's Most Effective Secretary
Analysis
May 15, 2009 8:28 AM CDT

Gates: Obama's Most Effective Secretary

Republican holdover provides political cover on tough calls

(Newser) - Keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense is starting to look like Barack Obama’s shrewdest personnel move, argues Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal. As someone appointed by the last two Republican presidents, Gates “brought to the table a credibility that no Obama appointee would have had,...

US to Replace Afghan Commander

(Newser) - Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced as chief of NATO’s Afghan mission by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special ops officer, ABC News reports. McKiernan has held his post for just 11 months, and it is unclear where he will go. The move, to be announced at a...

White House Aide Quits in Flyover; Gates Sorry

(Newser) - Robert Gates has apologized for the Air Force One photo op debacle over New York last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We deeply regret the anxiety and alarm that resulted from this mission,” the defense secretary wrote in a letter posted on the website of John McCain,...

US Bolsters Command in Afghanistan

Gates deploying top brass as part of structural overhaul of Afghan campaign

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to dispatch three-star general David M. Rodriguez to Kabul to shore up military leadership, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Military officials say the move—along with the creation of a new task force—is aimed at ensuring "the Pentagon is on a war...

US Admits Afghan Raids Killed Civilians

Pentagon reverses earlier claims that Taliban was to blame

(Newser) - American officials acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the US military was responsible for at least some of the 100 recent civilian deaths in western Afghanistan. The air strikes have led to angry protests in Afghanistan and calls for the US to withdraw from the country. While initial military...

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