Before exiting the stage as secretary of defense, Robert Gates took a parting shot at NATO. During his last visit to Europe, Gates delivered a scathing speech that included these criticisms: “too many allies have been unwilling to fundamentally change how they set...
War Fever Subsides in Washington
Imagine yourself in a typical Twilight Zone episode. You’ve been tossing and turning in delirium for some time and now, to your astonishment, you wake up to find yourself in an almost unrecognizable world. Your country, the former “sole superpower” on planet Earth, is...
Friday: 31 Iranians, 8 Iraqis Killed; 300 Iranians, 21 Iraqis Wounded
Once again, an Iranian refugee camp in eastern Iraq was the scene of a deadly raid. According to one source approximately 31 Iranians were killed and over 300 more were wounded during the operation. About 13 Iraqi personnel were also injured in the raid. Elsewhere in...
(N)ever Again
Talking about secretaries of defense... Oh, we weren’t? Well, let’s. After all, they’re in the news. Take former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who, on leaving government service—and I hope you don’t mind if I mangle a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur here—...
Hail Bob Gates!
How to Read Gates’s Shift on the Wars
Uncle Bob Wants You
Uncle Bob Gates wants more young people to join the military. In a Sept. 29 speech at Duke University, Defense Secretary Gates asked students, “If America's best and brightest will not step forward, who will?” The likes of you, Uncle Bob, that's who. By way of...
There Can Be No ‘Graceful Exit’
Gen. David Petraeus, the man who replaced his former Central Command subordinate Gen. Stanley McChrystal, when the latter was cashiered last month for insubordinate criticism of his civilian superiors, denies that President Barack Obama has given him the assignment to...
In for a Penny
The good news is that Defense Secretary Bob Gates is going to save money by shutting down Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in Virginia. The bad news, as the New York Times reports, is that the White House says the money Gates saves will free money that can be “better...
Obama Drops 2009 Pledge to Withdraw Combat Troops From Iraq
Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2010, he quietly abandoned that pledge Monday, admitting implicitly that such combat brigades would remain until the end of 2011. Obama declared in a speech to...