Robert Gates

Holdovers: The Worst Rumsfeld Deputies Obama Is Stuck With

Washington Independent | Posted 12.24.2008 | Politics


Awkward as it may be, some of the Pentagon officials who contributed to the foreign-policy debacles of the last eight years that brought Barack Obama ...

Sam Stein

Pentagon Problems: Obama Runs Into Delays Staffing Defense Team

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 12.23.2008 | Politics


President-elect Barack Obama has run into some difficulty staffing the top rungs at the Department of Defense, with the expected short tenure of Secre...

Gitmo Lawyer: Gates May Have Committed Perjury

Raw Story | Posted 12.23.2008 | Politics


The announcement Dec. 1 that Barack Obama had retained Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates was intended to demonstrate the President-elect's desire fo...

Obama's Audacity of Hope Collides Head-On with Ill. Gov. Blagojevich's Audacity of Greed

Mario Almonte | Posted 12.23.2008 | Politics


Mario Almonte

As the election of Barack Obama demonstrates, hope is a powerful catalyst for real change. But in the euphoria of anticipation of a new beginning in ...

Potentially Lethal: Increased Relationship Between Military And Aid

Virginia M. Moncrieff | Posted 12.22.2008 | World


Virginia M. Moncrieff

Who will have the final say if U.S. foreign policy and development goals conflict with military objectives in unstable countries?

Gates Has Canceled On Bush To Meet With Obama Team

New York Times | Posted 12.15.2008 | Politics


At a brief news conference in Kandahar, Afghanistan, an Afghan reporter asked Robert M. Gates, President Bush's defense secretary, the first, pertinen...

Gates: US Lacks Intelligence To Fight Somali Pirates

Reuters | Posted 12.14.2008 | World


The United States lacks the intelligence needed to pursue the fight against pirates on Somali soil, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Saturday, a...

Gates Warns Foreign Powers Against "Testing" Obama

New York Times | ELISABETH BUMILLER | Posted 12.13.2008 | Politics


Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned Saturday that foreign powers should not try to "test" President-elect Barack Obama with a crisis in his first...

Gates: More Brigades To Afghanistan By Summer, Must Build Up Afghan Army

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR | Posted 12.11.2008 | World


MANAMA, Bahrain — The U.S. military will pour thousands of troops into Afghanistan by next summer, and can expect to commit a sustained force fo...

Mr. President-elect: Please Don't Allow Pete Geren To Be Kept On

Chris Rodda | Posted 12.10.2008 | Politics


Chris Rodda

MRFF is strongly requesting that both President-elect Obama and his Defense Secretary make a serious effort to rid our military of unconstitutional religious activity.

The Department of Defense and The Arrogance of Chu

Hal Donahue | Posted 12.07.2008 | Politics


Hal Donahue

David Chu, the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, has struck once again.

Should Progressives Be Upset with Obama?

David Corn | Posted 12.06.2008 | Politics


David Corn

With these hawkish, Rubin-esque, middle-of-the-road picks, has Obama abandoned the folks who brought him to the dance?

Pentagon To Recruit Aliens On Visas

AP | PAULINE JELINEK | Posted 12.05.2008 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Struggling to find enough doctors, nurses and linguists for the war effort, the Pentagon will temporarily recruit foreigners who ha...

Obama: Elixir or Delegator?

Jayne Lyn Stahl | Posted 12.05.2008 | Politics


Jayne Lyn Stahl

It takes wisdom to seek counsel and courage to take a stand. We know Mr. Obama has courage, that he'll act when he thinks the time has come. We can only hope that he sees the time is here.

Gates Outlines Pentagon Reform, New Strategies

The Huffington Post | Posted 12.04.2008 | Politics


In a long article in Foreign Affairs' January/February 2009 issue, Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlines his vision for the next Pentagon. Called "A...

Need Cash? Cut Nukes

Joe Cirincione | Posted 12.04.2008 | Politics


Joe Cirincione

By cutting Cold War nuclear weapons, Obama could help save the auto industry, or finance anti-terrorism efforts, or rebuild the Army and Marine Corps crippled by the Iraq War.

Obama's Opening Gambit

Michael Carmichael | Posted 12.04.2008 | World


Michael Carmichael

The consensus in America is that US foreign policy is broken. To a great extent, Obama's political mandate is predicated on his promises to repair, refurbish and reconfigure American foreign policy.

The Obama "Betrayal" Narrative Takes Shape

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 12.04.2008 | Politics


Joseph A. Palermo

The fear is that Obama, bending to pressure from the military-industrial complex, might "re-brand" the Iraq war.

Obama's New Power Troika Faces Crises Old and New

William Bradley | Posted 12.03.2008 | Politics


William Bradley

It may well be that General Jones, in what is frequently the geopolitical catbird seat as Obama's National Security Advisor, will emerge as the most influential figure of the new national security power troika.

Gates: Military Looks To Accelerate Iraq Pullout, Shut Down Guantanamo

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR | Posted 12.03.2008 | World


WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled a willingness to forge ahead with two key priorities for the incoming Obama administration:...

Will Obama Stay the Course?

Robert Scheer | Posted 12.03.2008 | Politics


Robert Scheer

If there is a grand arc to Obama's appointments strategy, it seems aimed at providing the appearance of continuity on the part of a leader who still promises to be very different.

Global Media Debate Hillary Selection

James Freedman | Posted 12.02.2008 | World


James Freedman

World Editorial Roundup for December 2, 2008.

Sam Stein

Gates Praises Obama, Outlines New Defense World

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 12.02.2008 | Politics


Newly re-appointed Defense Secretary Bob Gates took questions from the press on Tuesday, outlining some agenda items that the Obama administration is ...

Wrong Priority

Amitai Etzioni | Posted 12.02.2008 | Politics


Amitai Etzioni

The most serious threat to our security, that of our allies, and to world peace, is very widely agreed to be that of terrorists getting their hands on a ready-made nuclear weapon.

Larry David, Secretary of...Humor?

Erica Heller | Posted 12.02.2008 | Entertainment


Erica Heller

Obama must go back on television as soon as he can to fill the one appalling gap in his shining galaxy. He must appoint Larry David Secretary of Humor.