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NEWS ABOUT: Robert Gates

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Obama Gives Retiring Gates Medal of Freedom

Today is outgoing defense secretary's last day

(AP) - President Obama today honored outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates' four decades of service, including the past 4 1/2 years in charge of the Pentagon, by surprising him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US honor a president can give a civilian. "I can think of no better... More »

What We've Learned From Robert Gates

A look back at the retiring defense secretary's career

(Newser) - With Robert Gates, who has served eight presidents over four decades, about to retire, the Washington Post looks back at how Gates operated in the Pentagon. He’s been “careful, conservative, and consensus-oriented,” writes Greg Jaffe, and he’s “earned a reputation as the most ruthlessly efficient... More »

Robert Gates: Taliban Talks 'Preliminary'

Says he wouldn't expect real progress until at least winter

(Newser) - Robert Gates confirmed today that the US is in "preliminary" talks with the Taliban, reports the Hill, cautioning that they've only been going on for a "few weeks." Appearing on State of the Union and Fox News Sunday, the outgoing defense secretary said the State Department... More »

Pentagon: Wait Til Fall 2012 to End Afghanistan Surge

Military pushes for slow withdrawal as Obama weighs next move

(Newser) - The military has called on President Obama to keep the Afghanistan troop surge in place until the fall of next year, ensuring that many of the 33,000 extra troops remain in the country for the next two fighting seasons, when the weather is warm. The military wants to avoid... More »

Pakistan Army Rails Against US Ties

Relations between US and Pakistani security forces hit nadir

(Newser) - The US-Pakistan security alliance has deteriorated so badly that Pakistani officers actually jeered top general Ashfaq Kayani at a town-hall-style meeting last month, demanding to know why Pakistan still supports US policy, officials tell the Washington Post . That kind of open criticism “is something no Pakistani military commander has... More »

Gates: NATO Full of Freeloaders

Outgoing defense secretary says US picking up tab for Europe's defense

(Newser) - Robert Gates had some harsh words for NATO today, saying that many of the US’ allies are “apparently willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets.” Gates was speaking at a think tank in Brussels, where his... More »

Pentagon Opposes Quick Afghanistan Exit

'We shouldn't let up on the gas,' Gates warns

(Newser) - The military is digging in its heels against the idea of a swift withdrawal from Afghanistan. “I think we shouldn’t let up on the gas too much, at least for the next few months,” Robert Gates told troops yesterday, as he finished his final trip to Afghanistan... More »

Obama Weighs Quicker Afghanistan Pullout

But Gates, Petraeus point to risks

(Newser) - With Osama bin Laden dead and war costs increasing, the Obama administration is weighing a sharper drawdown of troops from Afghanistan than it had planned, the New York Times reports. But the issue is still very much up in the air, and outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates advocates slower steps.... More »

Robert Gates Makes Farewell Afghanistan Trip

Defense secretary underscores need for success

(AP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Afghanistan today in an unannounced visit to say farewell to US troops and Afghan leaders. Gates, who is retiring at the end of the month, planned to meet with soldiers and Marines in eastern and southern Afghanistan. He also was holding talks with... More »

Rebels Leave White House Without Recognition

Libyan coalition fails to secure recognition as legitimate interim governing body

(Newser) - Libyan rebels just can't quite get what they want from the White House. A meeting between a delegation of rebels and US national security advisers yesterday ended with a statement from the US calling the Libyan Transitional National Council a “legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people”... More »

40 Tense Minutes Inside the Situation Room

Obama's order was fraught with risk

(Newser) - It was a daring gambit: Invade another nation's airspace, raid a compound, bag the world's most notorious terrorist, and get your troops out alive—all on the 50% to 80% chance Osama bin Laden was even there to begin with. Once President Obama ordered the raid on the... More »

Obama OKs Armed Predator Drones in Libya

Unmanned craft will take out Gadhafi targets

(AP) - President Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drone aircraft in Libya to improve the precision of low-level attacks on ground targets, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today. The first Predator mission was flown today, but the unmanned aircraft—armed with Hellfire missiles—turned back early because of poor... More »

Time Unveils Influential List

A look at some of the more interesting entries from this year's list

(Newser) - Time has just released its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and there are some perennial favorites (Barack Obama, Oprah), some recent newsmakers (Julian Assange, Mark Zuckerberg), some villains (Anwar al-Awlaki, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, Kim Jong Un, all of whom get very brief write-ups), some... More »

Alaska May Let Troops Drink at 18

Old enough to serve, old enough to drink, lawmaker says

(Newser) - "Any soldier who braves military combat and risks their life for our country should be treated like an adult—in every sense of the word," says Alaska lawmaker Bob Lynn. The Republican has revived an old controversy with a bill that would allow members of the military under... More »

US Ending Libya Air Combat Role

Gates, Mullen: Attack planes to be pulled out Saturday

(AP) - The Pentagon is about to pull its attack planes out of the international air campaign in Libya, hoping NATO partners can pick up the slack. The announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that American combat missions will end Saturday drew incredulous reactions from... More »

Fox Torqued By Clinton-Gates 'Diss'

Of course, secretaries skipped CNN, too

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates were talking up Libya on the talk show circuit today—except on Fox, and don't you think that host Chris Wallace didn't notice, reports Politico. “Of course we wanted to get the White House view on Libya,” Wallace told his viewers. “However,... More »

Israel Hits Gaza With Air Strikes

Hamas responds with ineffectual mortar attack

(Newser) - Israel launched another round of air strikes on the Gaza Strip last night, after Gaza fired a number of rockets deep into Israel. The air strikes hit a number of buildings belonging to Hamas, and initial reports indicate that some people were injured, according to the Jerusalem Post . On the... More »

Why Obama Really Went to War

Administration wanted to resurrect the idea of humanitarian intervention

(Newser) - The Obama administration didn’t really go to war to stop Moammar Gadhafi from committing human rights violations—or at least that wasn’t the only reason, sources tell Massimo Calabresi of Time . Senior officials say that many who pushed for the war pitched it in part as a way... More »

Gates, Petraeus Joke About Bombing Libya

Ha ha

(Newser) - Apparently when military leaders get together they joke about ... bombing countries. That's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Afghanistan coalition forces commander David Petraeus did when they met in Kabul yesterday. "Welcome back, Sir," Petraeus said to Gates on the tarmac after the boss landed. "You returning... More »

Obama Restarts Guantanamo Trials

Administration ends 2-year military prosecution freeze

(Newser) - President Obama today reversed a two-year freeze on military prosecutions against Guantanamo Bay detainees, the AP reports. In an executive order, the president restarted the process of trying the high-risk detainees—the latest acknowledgment of the political difficulties of fulfilling his campaign promise to close the Cuban detention facility. Defense... More »

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