Free Republic

SANAA — Yemen's president warned on Tuesday that his country would descend into civil war if he is forced to quit and Washington voiced concern about instability in the Arabian state where al Qaeda has a stronghold. Unrelenting anti-government protests, which first began on February 3, and fresh defections among the ruling elite have added to the pressure on Saleh, a U.S. ally against radical Islamists, to step down immediately after 32 years in power. But an aide said the president would leave office only after organizing parliamentary polls by January 2012 and he refused to hand over power without knowing...

MANAMA—Police firing tear gas and rubber bullets were unable to disperse thousands of mainly Shiite antigovernment protesters who blocked roads and prevented access to buildings in the capital's financial district, posing a further threat to the island's shaky economy. After briefly succeeding in pushing back about 350 protesters to their stronghold at Pearl roundabout in the morning, the police were later overwhelmed by thousands of demonstrators who occupied a nearby elevated highway and marched back toward the financial district. By evening, protesters set up a series of roadblocks along the King Faisal Highway running through part of the financial district,...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Tuesday played down the likelihood that the United States would enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, citing numerous political obstacles and questioning the wisdom of taking military action against an additional Muslim country. Gates said the Pentagon was preparing "a lot of options and contingencies" for President Obama to consider in response to the fighting in Libya and general instability in the region. Although Gates did not rule out establishing a no-fly zone to prevent Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi from carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces, he said such measures would have indirect consequences...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates bluntly told an audience of West Point cadets on Friday that it would be unwise for the United States to ever fight another war like Iraq or Afghanistan, and that the chances of carrying out a change of regime in that fashion again are slim. "In my opinion, 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 MacArthur so delicately put it,"Mr. Gates told an assembly of Army cadets. Huffington Post HIGHLIGHTS...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A faster, high-tech seafaring tank for U.S. Marines has hit countless setbacks and cost overruns during the past two decades, and now it is one of the pricier items on the Defense Department's budget-cutting list. Even the Marine Corps' top brass agrees the estimated $12 billion program has to go. But that doesn't mean the debate is over. A group of Republican lawmakers is questioning the Marine Corps leadership's sudden change of heart over the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Generals have long said the amphibious tank under development had come to symbolize the force's very identity and...

The United States is happy with the overall state of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter program, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday after the Pentagon has twice overhauled the program due to technical and cost worries. The fifth generation stealth jet is highly complex and has run into delays and massive cost overruns. Eight countries are partnering with the United States to develop the F-35 at a total cost of $382 billion. Washington has committed to ultimately buying around 2,300 to 2,400 of the planes, which come in three models. "I'm fairly confident that we are making good progress,"...

Chinese President Hu Jintao had an embarrassing moment in mid-January when his military flight-tested a new tactical aircraft during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Several features of the plane looked remarkably similar to America’s top-of-the-line F-22 fighter, and yet somehow leaders of the People’s Liberation Army air force managed to not mention to Hu that the test was happening. So the Chinese leader ended up learning about it from Gates. The episode suggested that although Hu is formally in charge of the Chinese military, he doesn’t know what it is doing much of the time

The latest signal that the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is in even more trouble came from soon-to-resign US Defence secretary Robert Gates, in an interview given on his way to his current talks in Beijing. China, Gates said, has “the potential to put some of our capabilities at risk”. His comments were almost entirely directed at the sudden, unpredicted, early appearance of China’s J-20 answer to the JSF, less than a year after Russia flew its response, in the PAK-FA. The evasive language of the Gates interview puts Canberra on further notice that the centerpiece of Australian defence planning...

Much has been written over the past few days about how the Chinese military's decision to flight-test its new J-20 fighter during a visit by U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates was an embarrassment for China's civilian leaders. Apparently, nobody in the Peoples Liberation Army had bothered to mention the flight to President Hu Jintao, so Gates was the first person to give him a heads up. Imagine how it feels to find out from a visiting foreign dignitary what your own military is doing -- the military that you supposedly lead. But the person who should really be embarrassed is...

As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates puts the ailing F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft on life support and proposes another delay to the single-engine stealthy fighter’s testing, he is also pushing forward a broad savings agenda that will enhance several major aerospace programs. For industry, the results are mixed. The most dramatic impact is on Lockheed Martin, which must turn around the F-35B within two years or expect its termination. Production would be cut by 124 aircraft through Fiscal 2016, limiting the company’s ability to reduce the near-term per-unit price and entice more international customers. Gates is also proposing termination of Raytheon’s...

China's military conducted the first flight test of an experimental stealth fighter Tuesday, apparently without informing the country's civilian leadership in advance and only hours before Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met with the Chinese president to discuss improving military ties. The test flight of the J-20 fighter seemed to represent a snub of Gates from China's military establishment during his three-day visit to Beijing and to deepen questions about how much control its civilian leadership exercises over the armed forces, which have often taken a harder line on improving relations with the U.S. When Gates mentioned the test in...

Preparing for a final showdown on the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defended the thousands of earmarks in the measure as the basic function of Congress. "That's our job. That's what we're supposed to do," Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said as he chastised fellow senators who, while having requested pork-barrel spending earlier this year, are now decrying their inclusion in the spending bill.

MUSCAT, Oman — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday cast doubt about a Senate vote this year to allow gay men and women to serve openly in the armed forces. In comments aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, Mr. Gates said he was unsure if the Senate would vote this year to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the 17-year-old law that requires gay men and women in the military to keep their sexual orientation secret or face discharge. “I’d have to say I’m not particularly optimistic that they’re going to get this done, I would hope...

Sen. John McCain of Arizona led a group of skeptical Republicans questioning a new Pentagon report that supports the end of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays serving in the military. Lawmakers got their first opportunity Thursday to question top Pentagon officials on Capitol Hill about the findings of a much-anticipated study released Tuesday, focusing largely on the possible timeline for such a change and its potential impact on military operations, especially on front-line combat units. But Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen defended the recommendation and urged Congress to...

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...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is “deeply misled” to suggest that Russia is undemocratic and that its security forces are in control of the government, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an interview to be shown Wednesday. In a State Department document unearthed in the WikiLeaks releases, Gates is quoted as saying, “Russian democracy has disappeared and the government was an oligarchy run by the security services.”

House members seek conditions to prevent arms being used against Israel; 198 representatives voice complaints about Saudi policies. WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is demanding more assurances from the Obama administration that a record $60 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia won’t give the kingdom new military capabilities that threaten Israel. In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, 198 representatives voiced a range of complaints about Saudi policies, and said they “would like to know how these sales will affect Israel’s qualitative military edge.” House members aren’t likely...

The Obama administration has quietly forged ahead with its proposal to sell $60 billion worth of fighter jets and attack helicopters to Saudi Arabia unhampered by Congress, despite questions raised in legislative inquiries and in an internal congressional report about the wisdom of the deal. The massive arms deal would be the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the U.S., outfitting Saudi Arabia with a fully modernized, potent new air force. "Our six-decade-long security relationship with Saudi Arabia is a primary security pillar in the region," Defense Sec. Robert M. Gates and Secretary...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has learned that development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be further delayed, on top of the 13-month slip that was disclosed in March. Gates also was advised in a Nov. 2 briefing that operations and support costs for the F-35 will be re-budgeted at 1.5 times the aircraft it replaces, more than twice the original goal and 50% more than more recent projections, according to reports. The briefing also covered other tactical aviation issues, and reportedly included data from the technical baseline review (TBR) that was launched by the new director of the JSF...

As Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., plant prepares to begin building the 187th—and last—F-22 super-fighter, the military is already dreaming of its successor. In a query to the aerospace industry earlier this month, the Air Force laid out its wish list, and it wants everything: a plane that can win dogfights, demolish air-defense missile networks, support ground troops, and run surveillance missions; a partial prototype would be ready by 2020, with entry into service by 2030. This may be wishful thinking, given the saga of the current wondercraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. With a development and production price tag of...