Free Republic

A $626 billion Pentagon budget narrowly advanced in the Senate Friday morning but not before Washington’s political battles seemed to eclipse the real wars of Iraq and Afghanistan overseas. The whole Senate scene, played out in a post midnight session on a freezing night, dramatized how poisonous the atmosphere has become in the health care fight.

KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2009 – Gather about 300 deployed soldiers and airmen, give them the opportunity to ask the defense secretary about what matters to them, and you might expect to hear questions about military pay and benefits, or complaints about spending too much time away from home. That wasn’t the case today at Forward Operating Base Warrior here. Instead, the troops peppered Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates with high-level, strategic questions about issues ranging from operations in Afghanistan to the Iranian threat to the health of an over-stressed force and the future of the Air Force in light...

KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2009 – The U.S. military role remains critical to preserving gains made in Iraq and helping to prevent sectarian violence in the roll-up to Iraq’s national elections, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told about 300 soldiers and airmen at a town hall session today at Forward Operating Base Warrior. “Whether you are just rotating in, or rotating out, you may have noticed that this theater has largely disappeared from the headlines,” Gates said, calling it the result of tremendous contributions U.S. servicemembers have made. “That doesn’t mean that this theater is not important,” Gates told the...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2009 – The recent spate of violence that has rocked the Iraqi capital dominated Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ talks here today with President Jalal Talabani and Iraq’s Presidency Council, all pledging to continue working cooperatively to combat it. The violence also forced Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was summoned by the Iraqi Council of Representatives as it addressed the crisis, to postpone his scheduled meeting with Gates, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters traveling here with Gates. At issue are a series of high-profile attacks targeting Iraqi state institutions that have left some 400...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here today to meet with Iraqi and U.S. military leaders about continuing progress toward building Iraqi security forces and drawing down the U.S. force presence here to 50,000 by late August. The visit, Gates’ first since July, comes as the Iraqis have resolved election law issues and set a March 7 date for national elections, and amid a rash of violence that a senior defense official called an act of desperation by the greatly weakened al-Qaida remnants here. During Gates’ sessions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal...

KABUL, Dec. 10, 2009 – Senior Afghan military and national police leaders gathered today at Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ departure to thank him for his support for President Barack Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan and a strong military team to support it. The leaders, along with Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, commander of the new International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, were waiting for the weather to clear so they could fly to Kandahar. There, they planned to discuss details about where the incoming U.S. troops will go and what resources they will need. Gates’ arrival at Kabul...

KABUL (AFP) – President Hamid Karzai told visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday that Afghanistan would need aid to fund its security forces for up to 20 more years, calling for a long-term US commitment. The newly re-elected Karzai said his government would work to assume responsibility for Afghanistan's security within five years, but that the impoverished country lacked the funds to foot the entire bill. Gates, who held talks with Karzai on implementing a new war strategy that involves sending 30,000 extra US troops to fight the Taliban, reiterated that the United States intended to start withdrawing...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived late Monday in Afghanistan with plans to assure officials and American troops there that the United States is committed to winning the war despite plans to begin pulling forces out in 2011. "We are in this thing to win," Gates told reporters while traveling to Kabul, where he plans to meet privately with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and later with troops bearing the brunt of combat. ...

Rumsfeld sees and raises on Afghanistan by Moe Lane Monday, December 7th Walking through this one: Last week former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reacted strongly to the White House’s allegation that military commanders in Afghanistan were denied troop requests under the previous administration.  Actually, that’s too weak a statement: Rumsfeld denied that anything of the sort had happened under his watch.Which, in point of fact, it did not: the administration was referring to events in 2008 - under Rumsfeld’s successor, Robert Gates (who is also the current SecDef, by the way) - and said events can be more accurately...

KABUL -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in this war-torn country Tuesday morning on an unannounced visit, prepared to offer U.S. troops a message from Washington after President Obama's decision to boost troop levels significantly: "We are in this thing to win." "A big piece of it, of my conversations especially with the soldiers, will be just to thank them for their service, for their sacrifice and to tell them we are in this thing to win," Gates, speaking to reporters traveling with him, said before his arrival here. Gates, the first senior U.S. official to travel to Afghanistan...

Gates, Clinton Say Obama Strategy Is to Convey Resolve and Urgency to Afghan Gov't, as U.S. Role Changes by July 2011 (CBS) President Obama's announced new strategy for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, which called for both an increase in troop strength and a July 2011 date for transferring forces out of the country, is the beginning of a process, not the end of it, according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. When asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" whether the July 2011 date marks a deadline for U.S. involvement in the Afghan conflict, Gates said no.

Gates Signals Afghanistan Withdrawal Date Could Move The Pentagon will "evaluate" next year whether the military can meet its goal of starting to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by July 2011, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday under tough questioning, signaling that the withdrawal date could move back if violence spirals out of control. President Obama said in announcing the timeline Tuesday night that the withdrawal would be based on conditions on the ground. But Sen. John McCain pressed Gates on Capitol Hill, calling the scenario "logically incoherent" and saying the national security team needs to choose which is more important:...

It's not true that the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist. Even dead terrorists aren't good. But at least they're dead. And that helps. But political correctness has possessed Washington. It's so bad that even Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who's done a great job in many other respects, parrots the cliché that "we can't kill our way out of this." Well, folks, there's no other way out of this all-or-nothing struggle with fanatics. Three thousand years of history teach that there's no alternative -- none -- to killing fanatics in large numbers when your enemies are ablaze with religious...

Lieberman Blasts Defense Department Probe of the Shooting as Backward-Looking Defense Secretary Robert Gates is putting a former chief of naval operations and former Army secretary in charge of a Pentagon inquiry into the Fort Hood shootings. "It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future," said Gates, who spoke at a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday afternoon. Hours earlier, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) opened its own probe into the shooting. Lieberman characterized the investigation...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – Improving the quality and professionalism of Afghanistan’s central government will not be accomplished quickly, and will involve continued discussion between U.S. and Afghan officials, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. “My view on all this is that improvements in governance in Afghanistan will be evolutionary,” said Gates, in response to a Pentagon reporter’s question on the possibility the United States could link the amount of assistance it provides the Afghan government through its performance in rooting out alleged corruption. Newly re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged that he will fight government corruption....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – While admitting initial reservations, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a National Guard conference today he sees benefits of a new plan that allows reserve-component servicemembers to conduct pre-deployment training before the clock starts ticking on their 12-month mobilization cycles. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates speaks to nearly 2,400 participants in the first National Guard Joint Senior Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 19, 2009. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates told the National Guard Bureau Senior Leadership Conference he wasn’t initially a fan of the so-called “contiguous mobilization”...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tapped a former senior defense official to lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the Fort Hood shootings, The Associated Press has learned. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will announce Thursday that the unified review will involve a number of components, and will call for a quick, short-term report, followed by a longer, more extensive study, according to an administration official. Components of the wide-ranging probe could include self-examinations by the Army and the military's medical community, and likely look at personnel policies and the availability of mental health services for...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants a "unified" in quiry into the Army's in ability to recognize warning signs of the sort broadcast for months by its homicidal Islamist psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. "This is larger than the Army," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell yesterday. "These are issues that need to be looked at department-wide." Well, that shouldn't take any longer than a year or two -- scant comfort to the soldiers and Marines silently going into harm's way wondering whose side that man with the gun over there is really on.

The secretary of defense let off some steam on his airplane, warning of the terrible consequences of leaking information about internal government policy debates. He’s “appalled.” Navy Times tells us that Gates said that “disclosures of sensitive information on any ‘options under consideration’ does not serve the nation well. Nor are they in the military’s strategic interests..” When I first came to Washington, and for many years thereafter, I thought leaks were just awful. How dare they? Among other things, I thought–and this I still think–that it has a chilling effect on internal debate. Because if you’re afraid that your...

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Robert Gates has blocked the public release of any more pictures of foreign detainees abused by their U.S. captors, saying their release would endanger American soldiers. The Obama administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court late Friday saying that Gates has invoked new powers blocking the release of the photos.

EN ROUTE TO OSHKOSH, Wis., Nov. 12, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today condemned a spate of leaks regarding both the Afghanistan strategy deliberations and last week's shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, threatening to fire anyone in the Defense Department he finds is involved. "I am appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on," Gates told reporters traveling with him today in the wake of media reports following yesterday's national security session on Afghanistan, President Barack Obama's eighth in the past two months. Gates said he has little doubt that some of those leaks have...

Note: The following text is a quote: U.S. Seeks to Counter Enemy’s ‘Weapon of Choice’ By John J. Kruzel American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2009 – The Defense Department expects U.S. forces in Afghanistan to continue to be targeted by improvised explosive devices -- which have claimed more lives there than any other weapon -- while it seeks ways to counter the threat, officials said. As President Barack Obama and his advisors weigh decisions on the next phase of the Afghan war, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is working to protect against and defeat the growing threat from...

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Oct. 23, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he’s encouraged by unofficial endorsements NATO defense ministers are expressing for Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy proposals for Afghanistan, along with indications they’re considering additional resources to support the mission there. Gates, here for a NATO ministerial, emphasized that he is in a “listening mode” and not pressing for specific contributions. “This was not the forum for anyone to express a view of any commitment,” he said. McChrystal’s resource requests, including troop recommendations, are working their way through the NATO chain of command and will be addressed...

Wow! You can call that leadership! As seen on Hannity: It has been 53 days since General McChrystal delivered his recommendations to the Pentagon for a troop increase. That’s 53 days since the president’s handpicked general gave the Commander- in- chief a recommendation on how to win that war in Afghanistan. Now in that time, the president has flown to Copenhagen to get embarrassed by the International Olympic Committee. He’s dispatched his henchman in an attempt to silence his critics and even found time for dance parties at the White House. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said a couple of...

President Obama's announced decision this week to remain undecided on new troops in Afghanistan for weeks, or even months, rejects his top commander's determination that without urgent reinforcements the war may be lost. At yesterday’s White House press briefing, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs reconfirmed that President Obama had not decided when a decision on a possible troop surge for Afghanistan would be reached. At issue was the forthcoming runoff election in which incumbent Hamid Karzai will compete again, after an earlier polling was apparently tainted by voting fraud. "The UN, NATO, the US stand ready to assist the Afghans in...

National Security: On the eve of a visit by China's No. 2 ranking military officer, the Obama administration loosens export controls on technology that will benefit Chinese missile development. It's deja vu all over again. The Pentagon has announced that Chinese Gen. Xu Caihou will visit the United States and meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Oct. 26. Xu is vice chairman of the People's Liberation Army Central Military Commission. While here, Xu will visit American military installations around the U.S., including the U.S. Pacific Command. Perhaps Xu will bring with him a note of thanks for the administration's...

Democrats Remain Divided After Congressional Meeting With President; Posts for Two Generals Support McChrystal StrategyWASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates has forwarded a request for more troops in Afghanistan to President Barack Obama, the Pentagon said Wednesday, as divisions within the administration and Congress continued despite Mr. Obama's high-profile meeting with congressional leaders the day before. Mr. Gates -- who made no recommendation of his own about the troop request, defense officials said -- had planned to hold back the document until the administration finished a broad re-evaluation of its Afghan war strategy. That decision came amid increasing public and...

Note: The following text is a quote: Gates: Withdrawal from Afghanistan Would Embolden Radicals by Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2009 – Withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan before accomplishing the mission there would greatly embolden Islamic radicals worldwide, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Afghanistan -- particularly the region that abuts the Afghan-Pakistan border -- is “the modern epicenter of jihad,” Gates said, noting that area is where the Soviet Union’s military forces eventually were defeated by Afghan insurgents during the 1979-89 Soviet-Afghan War. Gates joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at...

HH: There are five Americans, Bill Kristol, who by simple act of resignation could rally a lot of concerned citizens – Secretary Gates, Generals Petraeus, McChrystal, Jones, and Odierno. Of course, Jones, retired and [is now] in the White House. Do you agree with me that if any of those five said I cannot be part of this administration as a result of their policy decisions, that that would mobilize public opinion? BK: I think it would help, and I wonder if General McChrystal will say if something pretty close to his recommendation isn’t accepted, but you know, I think...

From the Wall Street Journal - October 1, 2009 Gates Doubts U.S.'s Afghan Strategy As Obama Reviews Options, Defense Secretary Worries Manpower-Intensive Plan Won't Stop Taliban WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama met with senior counselors for three hours Wednesday to launch his review of Afghan war strategy, amid indications that his defense secretary -- the key link between the White House and the military -- is among those undecided about the right approach. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. commander in Kabul, is advocating a manpower-intensive counterinsurgency strategy that focuses on protecting the Afghan populace rather than hunting individual militants. He submitted...

I lived in Georgia for most of four decades before moving to the Roaring Fork Valley. My mother's family was from New Orleans; she was born there, and I attended Tulane University. My children were born in Atlanta, and my grandparents owned a large farm — “plantation,” if you like — outside Thomasville in southwest Georgia. I know the South pretty well, and I'm familiar with the cultural stereotypes that attach to anybody who has ever lived there. I guess the “Stars ‘n' Bars” confederate battle flag tops the list. Then there's NASCAR and denim coveralls, banjos, cornbread and grits....

George Stephanopoulos does a great job interviewing Defense Secretary Robert Gates on General McChrystal’s Afghan memorandum calling for up to 40,000 armed forces troops. Here is both a blog report and videos. Jim Vicevich adds: "Gates never wavers. I will wait to pass the memo on until the President is ready."

(IsraelNN.com) A top official in the Obama Administration has at last admitted what intelligence agents and Israeli government officials have been warning about for years: Iran intends to build a nuclear arsenal. In media interviews with American television news networks scheduled to air Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said bluntly, "The Iranians have the intention of having nuclear weapons."

Note: The following text is a quote: NEWS ARTICLE ‘No Doubt’ New Iranian Nuke Facility is ‘Illicit,’ Gates Concludes By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2009 – Revelations that Iran has covertly been building an underground nuclear-fuel processing plant belie the Iranian-government’s denials that it is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on the Sunday TV talk show circuit today. “We’ve been watching the construction of this facility for quite some time and one of the reasons that we’ve waited to make it public was to ensure that our conclusions...

Mr. Bill is up to his old tricks, now with a new website that is the world wide web embodiment of a giant pharmaganda campaign to "teach" the world how important it is for the U.S. to fund global vaccination programs throughout the world. In other words, it teaches how great it is to give all our money to big pharma. Notice how “The Living Proof Project”, as Mr. Bill calls it, puts a nice face on disinformation. They will spend their time telling us the “good” things about global health efforts. They have had enough of hearing about the...

(snip) STEPHANOPOULOS: So you fully expect there will be prisoners in Guantanamo after the deadline? MCCAIN: All I know is, frankly, what I briefed on, and apparently they’re certainly not going to make that deadline. But we should continue to work towards the closure of Guantanamo Bay because of the image that it has in the world of brutality and harms our image very badly.(snip) STEPHANOPOULOS: But it’s going to take more than a decade to succeed, isn’t it? MCCAIN: I think you will see signs of success in a year to 18 months, if we implement the strategy right...

The administration is finally revealing to the public what most of us already knew. Yesterday, unnamed administration officials first revealed that GITMO will most likely still be open come January 22,2010, when it was scheduled for closure. Today, here's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said trying to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has proved more complicated than anticipated. Gates said "it's going to be tough" for the president to meet his goal of shutting the prison in January. He said there are difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and...

The administration is finally revealing to the public what most of us already knew. Yesterday, unnamed administration officials first revealed that GITMO will most likely still be open come January 22,2010, when it was scheduled for closure. Today, here's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said trying to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has proved more complicated than anticipated. Gates said "it's going to be tough" for the president to meet his goal of shutting the prison in January. He said there are difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and...

The 'Manchurian Mullah' February 01, 2008 New York Post Amir Taheri AS the "student" arrives in a bulletproof limousine with heavily armed guards, his teachers, ignoring that he's two hours late, greet him deferentially. The scene takes place at the Shiite seminary in Qom, Iran's holy city. The 35-year-old "student": Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army, a militia often deemed one of Iran's chief assets in Iraq. Sadr has spent much of the last 10 months in Iran, living in a 14-bedroom villa in Tehran's posh Farmanieh neighborhood. From there, he travels 90 minutes to Qom twice a week,...

Race-Based Student Government by: Alana Goodman, September 24, 2009 Racism is alive and well at the University of Massachusetts. And I’m not talking about the hysterical, trumped-up allegations of racism made by people like Henry Louis Gates and Jimmy Carter at the mere mention of legitimate criticism about Barack Obama’s policies. I mean clear-cut, systematic, institutionalized racism. Just look at our Student Government Association (SGA) By-Laws. As we prepare to swear in our elected representatives to the SGA Senate next week, UMass students should be aware that 13 percent of our SGA Senators will not have even competed in Tuesday’s...

General McChrystal’s report on the Afghan War should be required reading for us all. It’s written in plain English and is brutally realistic in its assessment of the current situation. It makes clear that if we continue on the path we’re on, even with the additional 21,000 troops President Obama has already added, we’re headed for certain defeat. Put simply, the General concludes that President Obama’s stated goal “to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future” cannot be accomplished with the current troop levels, resources and...

Last Sunday SecDef Robert Gates wrote an Op-Ed in the NY Times that was not only deceptive, but avoided the main point. What he missed telling us is the European Missile Shield (Ground based Mid-course Defense - GMD) is primarily a system to defend the US from ICBMs, with a secondary capability to defend the northern and central portions of Europe. By killing it he has killed our ability to stop US bound missiles from Iran. Early in his article Gates makes a statement that is totally misleading. In it he claims the original system would not be ready until...

America in Danger: Important Courtroom Battles Published: 24 September 2009Dear Mr. Yon:It is my pleasure to forward to you the attached copy of the amicus curiae brief which we filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on behalf of the Special Operations community on Monday evening.We believe that this unique brief has the potential to play an important role in the Court of Appeals’ consideration of Maqaleh v. Gates.  We are especially optimistic that the Court will value the insight that only veterans of Special Operations can offer as to the extremely adverse...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates threw his support on Wednesday behind an on-again, off-again plan to develop a new long-range U.S. bomber, citing the military modernization of China. "I am committed to seeing the United States has an airborne long-range strike capability," Gates said at an annual conference of the U.S. Air Force Association, an advocacy group. He said the United States should be less concerned with a toe-to-toe challenge from "countries like China" and "more concerned with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options." Gates referred to investments that...

Gibbs blasts CNN for reporting on the Coast Guard's training exercise. But what really stands out is at the bottom of the article. Gibbs said "I tend not to question law enforcement". But didn't Obama say that cops acted stupidly regarding the Gates incident? Didn't Obama basically praise Gates for "questioning authority?"

If Republicans act like Democrats we don’t need Republicans. Obama has a penchant for making HC speeches that alter his intent. Just like his recent 157,929th news conference/HC speech, he indicted the Cambridge Police as “Stupid” while defending his friend, Hahvad Professor Louie Gates. HC was put on the backburner while Barack played racial politics cover-up at a beer fest. Last night, SC Republican, Rep. Joe Wilson blurted out the words “YOU LIE!” after one of the many fibs told by our Dear Leader. Never mind Barack Obama called millions of Americans liars for objecting to what’s actually in House...

The Van Jones story isn't about another radical federal employee or even about President Obama's addiction to executive authority (he has appointed over 30 czars with whom he meets regularly, but he has held just one cabinet meeting since his inauguration). The Van Jones story is about our president: a man who fills the void in his emotional past with "authentic" black men who have no interior struggle for definition. President Obama has incessantly injected himself into racial matters that require no clarification (see Henry Louis Gates Jr.); he has turned every debate into a racial debate (see his 2008...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.” The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.rest of story at link...

It isn’t easy to put U.S. defenses back on track after they’ve endured a season of neglect. Gen. William Snow found that out firsthand. Snow’s job, when he arrived in Washington in the World War I era, was to direct the buildup of artillery for the Allied Expeditionary Force. He thought his office should have stationery reflecting the importance of the task. His request was rejected. Rather than fund this extravagance, it was suggested the general purchase a rubber stamp to mark his correspondence. Snow had joined a War Department completely unprepared to fight a war. The Army hadn’t been...

Slavery Reparations by Fred Reed On the Web I find that Henry Louis Gates Jr., the chairman of Afro-American Studies at Harvard, is demanding that whites pay reparations to blacks. It's because of slavery, see. He is joined in this endeavor by a gaggle of other professional blacks. I guess he'll send me a bill, huh? I feel like saying, Let me get this straight, Hank. I'm slow. Be patient. You want free money because of slavery, right? I don't blame you. I'd like free money too. Tell you what. I believe in justice. I'll give you a million dollars...