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NEWS ABOUT: Robert Gates

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Appointments Signal Shift From Candidate to Prez

National security team shows transition from candidate to leader

(Newser) - Yesterday's unveiling of Barack Obama's national security team did more than just end the rancor between him and Hillary Clinton; it established Obama as leader of a broad coalition that may transform his own views on American power. As Peter Baker writes for the New York Times, Obama's partnership with... More »

Obama Unveils Security Team Starring Clinton, Gates

Security not a partisan issue, president-elect declares

(Newser) - Barack Obama officially announced his national-security team today, a group including primary rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and Bush holdover Robert Gates as defense secretary, the AP reports. “One of the dangers in a White House, is that you get wrapped up in group-think,” Obama said,... More »

Obama Finds Intelligence Posts Tough to Fill

Intelligence posts next, but harder to fill

(Newser) - No surprises are expected as Barack Obama formally nominates his national security team today, leading with Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates. But the president-elect is having trouble with intelligence positions, the Wall Street Journal reports, as he looks for experienced hands not tainted by service in the... More »

Obama Foreign-Policy Team Signals Shift to Diplomacy

Clinton, Gates, Jones will lead diplomatic reform

(Newser) - The three lead players on the national security team Barack Obama will announce today have each historically been more hawkish than the president-elect—but all have embraced his plan for a sweeping foreign policy shift, the New York Times reports. Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates will work... More »

Ga.'s Chambliss on Runoff: 'We'll Win Again'

Fellow GOP senators praise Obama picks, pledge bipartisanship

(Newser) - Despite failing to muster 50% of the vote Nov. 4, Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he would prevail in Tuesday’s runoff against Democrat Jim Martin. “We’ll win again,” the Georgia Republican declared on Fox News Sunday. But Chambliss declined to say he would benefit from the lower... More »

Gates, Obama: Different Parties, Similar Views

Defense secretary wants to close Gitmo, focus on Afghanistan

(Newser) - Assuming he keeps his job, Robert Gates will have a transformed set of instructions come Jan. 20: Once charged with winning the war in Iraq, the defense secretary will now have to end it. But Gates and Barack Obama have substantial agreements about the nation's military strategy, the New ... More »

Obama's Inheriting Troubles Darker Than Economy

Mumbai attacks a horrific reminder of the problems Obama must tackle

(Newser) - The attacks in Mumbai are a stark reminder that some things are worse than a slumping economy, David Hallaway writes in Marketwatch. Barack Obama is also inheriting some huge foreign policy challenges, and the days of the war on terror taking a backseat to the financial crisis look certain to... More »

Reports: Gates Will Remain at Pentagon

'Done deal' that Bush appointee will stay at least 1 year under Obama

(Newser) - Robert Gates will remain in his post as defense secretary at least through the first year of Barack Obama’s administration, reports ABC News. “It’s a done deal,” an anonymous source told the network today. Obama will reportedly unveil his choice of Gates shortly after Thanksgiving, along... More »

'Realist' Has Obama's Ear on Foreign Policy

Scowcroft, adviser to Bush I, will likely see protégés in key posts

(Newser) - Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to the first President Bush and shunned by the second over Iraq, is likely to exercise serious foreign-policy influence in Barack Obama’s administration, the Wall Street Journal reports. Scowcroft, known for a non-ideological foreign-policy philosophy, counts among his protégés a number of... More »

Pentagon Plans Afghan Surge of 20,000

Commanders say extra 20,000 troops will quell rising Taliban violence

(Newser) - US commanders are drawing up plans to send an extra 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the surge will help reverse the rising violence in the country and safeguard elections planned for next fall. Commanders say the... More »

Klein: Obama's Team of Rivals 'Strong and Wise'

Obama's rumored picks signal preference for diplomacy over militarism: Klein

(Newser) - If current rumblings are to be believed, Barack Obama’s national security team would be disparate indeed, consisting of Hillary Clinton at State, retired general Jim Jones as National Security Adviser, and Robert Gates sticking around as defense secretary. It’s an “extremely strong and wise,” team, writes... More »

Why Gates Should Stay —and Why He Shouldn't

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom has it that Barack Obama will ask Robert Gates to keep his post as Secretary of Defense, but there’s no conventional wisdom about how wise that is. “It has more minuses than pluses,” opines one ex-Pentagon official, but others disagree. Some pros and cons:
  • Gates
... More »

Noonan: Keep Gates at Pentagon

SecDef is rock of honesty and competence in chaos

(Newser) - The will-he-won’t-she dance of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is drawing all the attention, but, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal, that’s not the most important Cabinet pick. Instead we ought to watch whether Obama does the right thing and asks Defense Secretary Robert Gates to... More »

Obama Talks to Gates About Staying at Pentagon

Defense Secretary fulfill talk of bipartisan cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Robert Gates are negotiating policy issues with a view toward Gates remaining Defense secretary, the Financial Times reports, a move that would make the Bush appointee a key member of a bipartisan cabinet that resembles Abraham Lincoln's “team of rivals.” Gates, a former CIA chief,... More »

Army Names First Female 4-Star General

Ann Dunwoody is a 33-year veteran of the military

(Newser) - A 33-year Army veteran today became the first woman in US history to be named a four-star general, CNN reports. Ann Dunwoody, 55, will oversee Army Materiel Command, which outfits and equips soldiers. "The Army nurtured me and mentored me, and today the Army offers me the chance to... More »

Obama Likely to Keep Gates at Defense

But Bush secretary opposes setting a timeline to leave Iraq

(Newser) - Barack Obama is considering asking Robert Gates to stay on as defense secretary, advisers tell the Wall Street Journal. Gates, considered a competent and nonpartisan pragmatist, was brought on to patch things up after Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure at the Pentagon. But while Gates, like Obama, supports an increased presence... More »

Petraeus Gets New Title, Plans Pakistan Visit

Chief of US Central Command headed to region he oversees

(Newser) - Gen. David Petraeus’ first official trip as head of the US military’s Central Command will be to Pakistan, the Tampa Tribune reports. Petraeus was sworn in today at MacDill Air Force base, in Tampa, taking over from Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey. Petraeus’ new responsibilities at Centralcom include planning in... More »

Pentagon Will Keep Extending Soldiers' Tours

Military will deny exit to some 12K a month through 2009

(Newser) - Soldiers are likely to face involuntary extensions of combat duty throughout 2009, USA Today reports, despite repeated Pentagon promises to rely less on the practice. Roughly 12,000 soldiers are hit with “stop loss”—which forces them to stay in the Army after their commitment has expired—each... More »

In Kosovo Visit, Gates Walks a Fine Line With Russia

But defense sec says US troops will remain

(Newser) - The US will maintain its current troop levels in Kosovo until at least the end of 2009, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His trip to Kosovo is the first by an American cabinet member since the republic declared independence in February. The move of support is meant to show... More »

Gates Apologizes for Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan

US defense secretary expresses 'personal regret' over wayward airstrikes

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Afghanistan today, apologized for recent civilian casualties from military operations, the AP reports. While the US strives for precision in airstrikes against Taliban insurgents, “it is clear that we have to work even harder,” Gates said—even as the coalition commander said... More »

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