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By Stan Goff
$11.89
$14
$22
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mark sebastian (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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By Dilip Hiro, TomDisaptch —
Washington has vociferously denounced Afghan corruption as a major obstacle to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. But none of the relevant documents refer to the single most relevant fact: that the fraud and misconduct originates in Washington itself.
Posted on Apr 3, 2013
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Flickr / Security and Defense Agenda
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Robert Gates, who left his role as defense secretary this summer, has drawn criticism from members of the military establishment for allegedly lacking long-term vision, allowing military leaders to usurp civilian control and inadequately briefing and preparing the president for war. (more)
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Flickr / stevendamron
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Essayist, Yale English professor and TomDispatch contributor David Bromwich takes a careful accounting of the “sacked” and “saved” members of the Obama administration in an attempt to reveal the similarities between his presidency and George W. Bush’s. (more)
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Flickr / Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
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Independent experts suggest that more than 400,000 American service members will return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injuries that could lead to severe personality disorders, and little is being done to help them. (more)
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As Leon Panetta—you might know him from his most recent appearance as head of the CIA—took another step in his transition to the role of defense secretary, he had to deal with some pointed questions about America’s role in Afghanistan. (more)
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AP / Jason Reed
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By Bill Boyarsky — The White House account of President Barack Obama’s meeting with his Afghanistan team was insultingly vague for anyone wanting to know when—or if—the Afghanistan war will end.
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By William Pfaff — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Kabul at the start of June talking about withdrawal—or non-withdrawal—from Afghanistan, but before he went home he stopped in Singapore to talk about an enlarged American military engagement in Asia.
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Flickr / U.S. Marine Corps Official Page
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Ahead of policy deliberations in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued for a modest approach to the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan that will begin next month. He favors the removal of support forces in a strategy that would leave as much “combat power” in place as possible until the war’s end.
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Here we have the commander in chief delivering solemn words at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. President Obama also took the opportunity to salute his outgoing defense secretary, Robert Gates ... (more)
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U.S. Navy / Petty Officer 1st Class Molly A. Burgess
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President Obama nominated Gen. Martin Dempsey on Monday to take over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military adviser to the president. Obama’s first choice for the job, according to The Washington Post, was Marine Gen. James Cartwright, who was reportedly denied the promotion for ... (more)
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U.S. Navy / MC2 Kyle D. Gahlau
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, “We are looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security” of the mysterious Navy SEAL team that shot Osama bin Laden, after said SEALs expressed concerns. Over in Kenya, the government says it will inspect all visitors to the Obama compound.
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Wikimedia Commons / Brigadier Lance Mans
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On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that President Obama has given the go-ahead for U.S. forces to send armed Predator drones to Libya. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney officially disapproves of Obama’s strategy vis-a-vis the Libyan conflict.
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Navin Shetty Brahmavar (CC-BY)
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When the secret history of the current “Arab Spring” is written, we may learn that one of the many unintended consequences of U.S. attempts to keep up with—and influence—the historic events was to provide a flood of new recruits to radical Islam.
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DOD / Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
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There’s a lot of talk coming out of Washington, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates assured Congress on Thursday that the Pentagon’s mission in Libya is “much more limited” than regime change and said American troops would not be sent to the country, even in a training capacity, “as long as I’m in this job.”
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Taylor Jones, Cagle Cartoons, El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico —
Posted on Mar 27, 2011
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Brennan Linsley / AP / dapd
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By Robert Scheer — It is the right—indeed, need—of the American public to learn the truth about the motives, financing and methods of those who are alleged to have torn at the heart of our social fabric.
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Wikimedia Commons
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As tens of thousands of Libyans look to leave their homeland or have already fled, the United Nations on Tuesday called for aid in response to the crisis, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates discussed the kind of help ...
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By William Pfaff — A new Middle East, indeed! But not the one that American policymakers expected when the George W. Bush administration launched the “Great War on Terror,” which the last few days have made irrelevant.
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AP / Evan Vucci
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In a critique of recent U.S. foreign policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates openly told an audience of West Point cadets that it would be unwise for the nation to venture into another war like Iraq or Afghanistan.
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Flickr / seiu_international
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After the White House let Bahrain know on Wednesday that its friends in the American government would be watching the protests over there “very closely,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made good on that advance notice by expressing ...
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White House / Pete Souza
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Maybe you’ve noticed that the Obama administration’s strategy with regard to the ongoing Egyptian uprising has lacked a certain consistency. That’s partly because of divisions within the president’s closest circles about how to deal with the crisis and its various factions ... (more)
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By William Pfaff — The U.S. can pursue one of two courses in East Asia: Either negotiate an understanding with regional powers and redeploy American troops, or continue the dangerous drift that provokes China’s insecurities.
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Flickr.com / mindfrieze
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The Obama administration is working on cutting back defense spending to levels the U.S. hasn’t seen since before Sept. 11, 2001, but the proposed changes have more to do with economic reasons than any big strategic change from within military ranks.
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One would imagine that certain figures in the U.S. military and government, such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates here, might not be heartbroken over the news of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s arrest—and one would be right.
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Wikimedia Commons
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a strong and clear message to Congress on Tuesday: Get rid of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians, and do it pronto.
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Flickr / The U.S. Army (CC-BY)
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The findings summarized in a lengthy report that the Pentagon is preparing to send to President Obama about the potential effects of repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy have been relayed to The Washington Post ahead of the game, and ... (continued)
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DoD / R.D. Ward
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Nouri al-Maliki is more than influenced by the Shiite clerics in Iran who have done so much for the troubled Iraqi prime minister. Maliki just schlepped over the border for a powwow with Iranian bigwigs. Tehran’s spokesman said the PM was in town to exchange views, but for all we know he just needed a hug. (continued)
Posted on Oct 18, 2010
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AP / Carolyn Kaster, pool
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Nothing is certain on this front yet, but the U.S. is reportedly considering opening up some channels of communication to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and between the Taliban and the Afghan government, in the interest of long-term peace goals.
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Photo illustration based on the poster by James Montgomery Flagg
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The defense secretary warned Duke University, and anyone else who would listen, about a growing divide between the public and the military that has created a minority class of professional military workers and a detached, if vaguely supportive, civilian population.
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By William Pfaff — A splendid and courageous new book describes with lucidity the degree to which the power of the American presidency over war and peace has been weakened in our day, and, in important respects, superseded.
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U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller
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By William Pfaff — The globalist militarism that remains the dominant force among the American policy class in Washington (Democrats prominently involved) now has its members talking to the press about its new use of “the scalpel” rather than “the hammer.”
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DoD / U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has held his position through the transition from the Bush to the Obama administration, but it’s looking like he won’t hang on for yet another presidential term.
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Flickr.com / mindfrieze
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It doesn’t look like WikiLeaks is going to heed the Pentagon’s request to “do the right thing” and refrain from releasing 15,000 documents about the war in Afghanistan that the site has yet to share with the world.
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DoD / Cherie Cullen
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The most important fact in the New York Times report on Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ spending cuts comes 15 paragraphs in, when we learn that the U.S. will still spend more than ever on the military, more than all other countries combined, more than under President Bush. (continued)
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U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence
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By Eugene Robinson — In Afghanistan, momentum has become a substitute for logic. We’re not fighting because we have a clear set of achievable goals. We’re at war, apparently, because we’re at war.
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It might have been better for Gen. Stanley McChrystal if Defense Secretary Robert Gates had piped up a little earlier but, nonetheless, Gates comes to McChrystal’s, uh, defense in this interview with The Associated Press.
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collateralmurder.com
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has defended the U.S. soldiers who were made infamous in a video released by the website Wikileaks last week, saying the critiques of those who fired upon and killed a group of reporters and civilians lack context.
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U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II
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The Pentagon is expected to announce on Thursday a softening of “don’t ask, don’t tell” rules, as promised, while a full review is under way. Only Congress can overturn the policy, but the military can make limited changes, like reforming the way it handles outings by a third party.
Posted on Mar 24, 2010
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DoD / MC1 Chad J. McNeeley
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Only Congress can overturn the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but the military may unilaterally make it harder to enforce—or at least hold up its end of the deal by actually not asking. The Pentagon will reportedly stop acting on accusations of homosexuality by third-party snitches and gay-baiters and will disempower anyone but generals and admirals to discharge people. Update
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teachersparadise.com
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Although the word is already out that Gen. Stanley McChrystal is about to submit a formal request to the White House to send more American troops to Afghanistan, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Pentagon has told McChrystal to wait, perhaps to let the Obama administration reconsider its next move.
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U.S. Navy / MC1 Molly Burgess
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The situation has changed significantly since President Obama took office last winter and fixed his focus on Afghanistan, and these changes—including a disputed Afghan presidential election and deadly spikes in insurgent violence—may spell trouble for Obama’s initial strategy in that country, according to an assessment issued by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Updated
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White House / Pete Souza
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General Stanley McChrystal, the top-ranking U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, on Monday issued his highly anticipated report about the status of the conflict on that troubled front, and his assessment of the situation doesn’t fully help President Obama’s cause in ramping up America’s Afghan war effort since he took office.
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USAF / Senior Airman Sheila deVera
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Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, may ask for more troops, but whether he’ll get any is in doubt. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already moved to expand the Army, but getting troops the downtime they need between deployments will limit how many can be sent to the escalating war in South Asia.
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seeandavoid.com
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During a time when the term government spending (not to mention recession) gets quite a few hackles up, House Democratic bigwigs’ choice to scrap plans to purchase four posh planes to shuttle congressional leaders around is clearly wise, although the Senate vote may still pose a problem.
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said it, and judging by this three-part series from CNN, the age of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is upon us. It’s warfare by joystick—and the Predator drone is only the beginning.
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DoD / Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, USAF
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By Robert Scheer — I’ll believe it when it finally happens. But the news that Congress might actually stop production of a high-tech, job-generating and, most of all, high-profit weapons system because it fills no legitimate national security function is a considerable victory for President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, as well as for logic.
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AP photo / Charles Dharapak
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By Stanley Kutler — President Barack Obama dramatically changed course twice on May 13 when he announced he would not release photos of American military personnel “abusing” detainees, reversing the Pentagon’s statement on April 26 that it would comply with a court order—with the president’s own prompt and emphatic support for release.
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The Pentagon will be replacing the current top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, who has served in the position a mere 11 months. The decision comes on the heels of President Obama’s new plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan and marks a clear change in strategy in an increasingly complex war.
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AP photo / Charles Dharapak
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By Elliot D. Cohen — The Obama administration is now considering reinstating the Military Commissions Act after a four-month suspension, in contradiction to the president’s promise to end military tribunals for detainees and to close down Gitmo.
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Having moved from the Bush administration to Obama’s camp, Defense Secretary Robert Gates takes stock of the White House’s new occupant on Sunday’s episode of “Fareed Zakaria GPS” and defends Obama’s recent diplomatic outreach during his international debut: “I have not seen it as an apology tour,” says Gates.
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