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Washington (CNN) -- Trash talk and criticism seems the norm in these days of social networking, talk radio and cable pundits. But now it's spreading to the halls Capitol Hill and the leadership of the Department of Defense. Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have started it when commenting on an idea for establishing a no-fly zone over Libya to protect rebel forces. "There's a lot of, frankly, loose talk about some of these military options," Gates told a House committee on Wednesday. "Let's just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy...

Senior U.S. defense officials tried to lower expectations of an international military intervention in Libya, as rebels, fighting off a key offensive by forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi, called for foreign airstrikes. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, testifying before Congress, criticized "loose talk" about any military intervention in Libya, where military rebels and civilian opponents of the government are trying to topple Col. Gadhafi. The U.S. and allies have discussed the prospect of imposing a no-fly zone over the North African country to prevent Col. Gadhafi from using air forces to strike at protesters. But Mr. Gates on Wednesday made...

Did you catch ABC's recent special on an incubator to boost preemie survival in Africa and a new machine to diagnose tuberculosis in the developing world? Perhaps you saw Ray Suarez's three-part series on poverty and AIDS in Mozambique on the PBS NewsHour. Or listened to Public Radio International's piece on the rationing of kidney dialysis in South Africa. Beyond their subject matter, these reports have something else in common: They were all bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Better-known for its battles against global disease, the giant philanthropy has also become a force in journalism. The foundation's...

As he winds down a remarkable Pentagon career – overseeing two long and very costly wars, wrestling with a military-industrial complex resistant to his budget moves aimed at questionable weapons, and shaking up the senior officer corps – Defense Secretary Robert Gates has a message for his successor. “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it.” [SNIP] “We can’t know with absolute certainty what the future of warfare will hold,...

The House on Wednesday narrowly approved an amendment that would eliminate funding for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a move that would contribute an additional $450 million to the estimated $61 billion in federal spending cuts that House Republicans have proposed for the rest of the current fiscal year. The amendment, offered by two-term Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), passed the House on a 233-to-198 vote. Its passage was a victory for conservative Republicans as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, both of whom had criticized the alternate-engine program as unnecessary and wasteful.

A landmark lawsuit filed Tuesday against Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, alleges that the military's repeated failures to take action in rape cases created a culture where violence against women was tolerated, violating the plaintiffs’ Constitutional rights. “There are three types of women in the Army,” says Rebecca Havrilla, a former sergeant and explosive-ordnance-disposal technician. “Bitch, dyke, and whore.” During the four years that Havrilla was on active duty, she was called all three—by fellow soldiers, team leaders, even unit commanders. Once, during a sexual-assault prevention training, the 28-year-old South Carolina native claims, she watched a...

Davos, Switzerland (CNN) -- Microsoft founder Bill Gates sat down recently with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta in Davos, Switzerland. The billionaire philanthropist was attending the World Economic Forum to push his mission of eradicating polio by 2012. Gates, through his foundation, also pledged $10 billion to provide vaccinations to children around the world within a decade. Gupta asked Gates for his thoughts about the alleged autism-vaccine connection. He also asked: Who holds ultimate accountability for the billions of dollars being spent on aid? Is a certain amount of corruption and fraud expected? Below is an excerpt of their...

Watch the video for yourself, if you can stand it.

Bill Gates speaks at the mHealth summit. WASHINGTON, DC, January 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the keynote address to the mHealth Summit held in November last year, Bill Gates introduced a plan to use cell phone technology to register every birth on the planet in a newborn vaccination database. Attributing the decline in the number of children who die before their fifth birthday from 20 million in 1960 to 8.5 million today to infant vaccination, Gates told the audience of more than 2,000 at the conference, “About one-third [of that improvement] is by increasing income. The majority has been through...

A Swiss bank that used its Cayman Islands’ branch to engage in what a US federal judge has branded “predatory lending practices” is being investigated by the US authorities. Senior officials of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank, are facing claims that they pocketed millions of dollars by dishing out loans that were impossible to repay. On Tuesday, 15 September, 31 of the bank’s officials received subpoenas demanding that they hand over internal documents that explain why they loaned $375 million to the now bankrupt Yellowstone Club in 2005. The Yellowstone Club, founded by American tycoon Tim Blixseth, was once...

(3rd LD) Gates says diplomatic engagement with N. Korea 'possible' By Kim Deok-hyun SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday diplomatic engagement with North Korea is "possible," but Pyongyang must first stop its "dangerous provocations and take concrete steps" to meet its international obligations. Gates made the remarks as he started talks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to discuss concerns over the increasingly belligerent North and ways to further strengthen their deterrence against the communist state. "With regard to next steps on North Korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct...

China’s military conducted a test flight of a new stealth fighter jet on Tuesday, overshadowing an important visit to Beijing by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates aimed at improving defense ties — and apparently catching China’s civilian leadership off guard. Staging the test flight of the long-secret J-20 while Mr. Gates was in Beijing amounted to an unusually bold show of force by China. But the demonstration also raised questions about the degree of civilian control of the Chinese military, as President Hu Jintao and other civilian leaders gave their American visitors the impression that they were unaware that the...

The "new", supposedly triangulating and fiscally prudent Obama has appeared... or has he? With a nation so fed up with the federal spending, increased size of government, and an economy that isn't as rosy on Main Street as it is in the Obama pressers, the POTUS takes the "cut spending" midterms message to heart, and goes for the military's jugular. But Obama's first proposed cuts to make the news are a mixed bag. Included in the WH demands to Defense Sec'y Gates is cutting up to 47,000 troops from the Army and Marine Corps forces, and raising the Tricare military...

June 2009, while speaking at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, “Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended his proposed cuts in the Air Force’s fighter fleet in Fiscal 2010 as part of overall changes to the US tactical air arm. He said under his plan—to cap F-22 production at 187, shed more than 250 legacy fighters, and rely on the F-35 production line henceforth as the sole active source of advanced stealth fighters—the US will still be left with a “numerical and technological edge” that will remain “extremely strong and far superior to that of any potential competitor for at least the next 15...

Gates expected to slice orders for F-35 as part of spending cuts By Bob Cox rcox@star-telegram.com Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to cut orders for the F-35 joint strike fighter over the next three to five years as part of broader plan to reduce Pentagon spending by $100 billion, analysts say. Gates will brief Congress today on a five-year spending plan for the Defense Department, including yet another restructuring of the F-35 program to compensate for repeated delays in development and testing. Defense analysts said few details of Gates' intentions have surfaced, but he is widely expected to announce cancellation...

Our foreign policy establishment believes that America's allotment of conventional weapons is useless. The DOD's current leaders (Robert Gates, William Lynn, et al.) would love to significantly reduce our numbers in this respect, and they've already made extensive "progress." The first President Bush cancelled over a hundred weapon programs and reduced many others, including the order for B-2 bombers. The Clinton administration also canceled or cut a number of programs (e.g., the Seawolf class), as did the second Bush administration (vide the XM2001 artillery program, the Comanche helicopter, the E-10MC2A AWACS, etc.). All three administrations also radically reduced the inventories...

Four U.S. soldiers going home on leave from Afghanistan hitched a sweet ride out of the war zone Thursday by snagging seats on a special flight: the 747 Boeing aircraft that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates uses to crisscross the globe. ... For instance, married couple had been deployed to Kandahar, the traditional heartland of the Taliban. Husband and wife each hold the rank of Sgt. First Class and have spent at least 14 years in the armed forces. They have deployed four times during their careers: to Kosovo, twice to Iraq and now Afghanistan. They're headed to Texas to...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Afghanistan on Tuesday to assess progress in the nine-year conflict, as the Obama administration measures whether it can meet its goal of beginning to withdraw U.S. forces in July. Gates' trip is touted as a holiday visit to thank close to 100,000 U.S. troops serving in the war. But his observations and meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as top U.S. military and civilian leaders will probably provide crucial last-minute guidance for a review of U.S. military policy in Afghanistan due for completion next week.

    WASHINGTON — Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hideki Tojo tried and failed. Mao Zedong, Nikita Khrushchev and Ho Chi Minh couldn't do it. But commander in chief Barack Obama may well succeed where others could not. If he has his way, he will demolish the finest force for good in the history of mankind — the U.S. armed forces. And he wants to make it all happen before the end of the year.On Nov. 30, Defense Secretary Robert Gates released the much-leaked "Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of 'Don't Ask,...

The Pentagon on Tuesday released a long-awaited report intended to advance a key campaign promise made by then-Sen. Obama to the fringe activist groups that supported his presidential aspirations. Now as commander in chief, President Obama has made it clear to military brass that he expects them to embrace the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) agenda. It should come as no surprise that the release of the military's new "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" survey was carefully orchestrated to accomplish this mission.From the outset, the Pentagon had no interest in eliciting honest responses from the troops about whether the...