Robert Gates

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US Won't Send Troops to Pakistan: Gates

(Newser) - There are no plans to deploy US ground troops to Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today, despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants. Speaking to about 300 Marines at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan, Gates assured the soldiers they didn't have to "worry about...

On Gitmo, Obama Has a NIMBY Problem

Congress balks at funds, authority to move detainees to US

(Newser) - President Obama has ordered that Guantanamo be closed by the end of the year, but finding a place for the prisoners the administration can neither try nor export is turning into a political nightmare. A Pentagon request for $50 million to relocate the prisoners is running into crossfire in Congress,...

Gitmo Inmates May Land on Mainland: Gates

(Newser) - The fate of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay remains unclear, but Robert Gates hinted at one possibility during a Senate hearing today, reports the New York Times: Inmates who aren’t tried, repatriated, or sent to other countries could wind up in the US. Of the 250 “enemy combatants” in...

Gates Pressure Speeds New Armor to Afghan Soldiers

(Newser) - With a little push from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Army says it has completed its assessment of $3 million worth of high-tech, lightweight body armor and will send it immediately to soldiers in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. The Army was dragging out testing on the new armor,...

Pentagon Will Fill Civilian Jobs in Afghanistan

Reservists to fill up to 300 positions intended for nonmilitary experts

(Newser) - The Obama administration is being forced to fill hundreds of new positions designed for civilian experts in Afghanistan with military personnel, mostly reservists, reports the New York Times. The shortfall results from insufficient funds to hire and train nonmilitary people for work in combat zones, and the fact that agencies...

Pentagon to Create New Cyber Command

Four-star general will lead efforts to fight digital attacks

(Newser) - The Obama administration is about to create a new military command to bolster American offensive powers in cyberwarfare and to coordinate defenses against digital attacks, reports the Wall Street Journal. A four-star general will lead the new command, which will have responsibility for protecting the country from attacks by hackers,...

Slain Pirates Were 'Untrained Teenagers': US

They were young men 'with heavy arms:' Gates

(Newser) - Capt. Richard Phillips’ captors were young men new to high-seas crime, AFP reports. The Somali pirates, aged 17-19, were “untrained teenagers with heavy weapons,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today, adding that Somalia needs “something on land that begins to change the equation for these kids.”...

Gates' Pentagon Budget Overhaul Hits Heavy Resistance

Congressmen fly to defend pet weapons

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates talked tough yesterday in proposing to cut six major weapons systems from the Pentagon budget, and members of Congress wasted no time in talking tough right back, suggesting that the battle to refocus spending could meet major resistance. “This budget represents an opportunity, one of...

Contractors Targeted in Pentagon Cuts

Gates aims to have procurement staff employed directly by Pentagon

(Newser) - The Pentagon's new budget proposal cuts the role of private contractors by a third—back to pre-9/11 levels—the Washington Post reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to replace tens of thousands of contracted workers with people employed directly by the Pentagon, especially among the vast workforce tasked with buying...

Gates Axes F-22 in Pentagon Budget Overhaul

Defense sec cuts deep, readies dep't for this century's wars

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates today recommended halting production of the F-22 fighter jet and scrapping a new helicopter for the president as he outlined deep cuts to many of the military's biggest weapons programs. Gates said his $534 billion budget proposal represents a "fundamental overhaul" in defense acquisition...

IED Casualties in Afghanistan Soaring

75% of coalition deaths result from roadside explosives

(Newser) - Improvised roadside bombs caused 75% of all casualties among coalition forces in Afghanistan in the first two months of this year, up from 50% two years ago, reports USA Today. The rate of casualties from IEDs is also higher than at any time in Iraq, calling for urgent pleas for...

Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President
Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President
ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2009 7:40 AM CDT

Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President

Defense secretary earns Obama's trust on Afghanistan-Pakistan

(Newser) - In 2008, under another president, Robert Gates spent 115 days traveling to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and 23 other countries. But this year, writes the New York Times, the defense secretary has been spending much more time in Washington. Gates, the only holdover from the Bush Cabinet, has slowly secured a...

Geithner on AIG: 'We Had No Good Choices'
Geithner on AIG: 'We Had No Good Choices'
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Mar 29, 2009 10:53 AM CDT

Geithner on AIG: 'We Had No Good Choices'

Gates backs Obama on Afghanistan; Petraeus says Cheney wrong

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner may have reignited the AIG bonus brouhaha on ABC’s This Week just as calls for his ouster had begun to subside. “We had no good choices. The contracts were set,” he said, insisting Treasury acted quickly to renegotiate the parts of the bonuses it could....

Obama Rolls Out Sunday Best for TV Talkers

Prez turns to political talk shows in risky strategy

(Newser) - In his embrace of YouTube and town hall meetings, President Obama hasn’t forsaken “the old gray mare of Washington journalism:” the Sunday talk shows, Mike Allen writes on Politico. Obama, Timothy Geithner, and Robert Gates will fan out across the airwaves tomorrow to advance their agenda, but...

Gates: 'Bin Laden Hunt Like Finding Unabomber'

Defense secretary says finding fugitives a lot harder than it looks

(Newser) - Finding the bad guys isn't as easy as it looks in the movies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday. Gates compared the hunt for Osama bin Laden with federal agents' 17-year search for the Unabomber, and suggested the same time frame may be similar in the quest to locate al-Qaeda...

Army Phasing Out Program Holding Soldiers After Service

Gates announces end to forced extensions

(Newser) - The Army plans to stop forcing soldiers to serve again after their enlistment contracts are up, reports the Washington Post. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans yesterday to phase out the “stop-loss” program—which keeps soldiers in the Army beyond their service obligation—over the next two years. Some...

Iraq Timetable Unlikely to Change: Gates
Iraq Timetable Unlikely to Change: Gates
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Mar 1, 2009 12:26 PM CST

Iraq Timetable Unlikely to Change: Gates

Limbaugh the 'intellectual force' behind GOP: Emanuel

(Newser) - It’s “fairly remote” that deteriorating conditions in Iraq will delay President Obama’s withdrawal timetable, Robert Gates told NBC’s Meet the Press. The defense secretary also insisted that the US military will achieve “significant success” once it leaves Iraq. As for his bosses, Gates said Obama...

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban
 Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban 
Feb 26, 2009 1:39 PM CST

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban

(Newser) - The Pentagon has lifted the media ban at Dover (Del.) Air Force Base and will allow photos of the coffins of US war casualties returning from overseas—provided the service members' families approve. Under the new rules, the families can withhold permission, CNN reports. Some relatives had lobbied against...

Obama Takes Time on Troop Decisions

Unlike his predecessor.

(Newser) - Barack Obama is resisting pressure from the Pentagon to swiftly approve a major shift of forces to Afghanistan, Politico reports. For weeks officials have been predicting the new president would, within days, OK the request for 10,000 more troops. Instead Obama has insisted on a methodical strategic review, debating...

Pentagon May End Media Ban on War Dead

Policy under review

(Newser) - Robert Gates has asked the Pentagon to review its policy of barring the media from photographing the coffins of military casualties returning to the US from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. “I think, if the needs of the families can be met and the privacy concerns can...

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