Defense Secretary Trims Fat Around the Edges

Staff / Truthdig Apr 7, 2009 Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined his spending cuts on Monday, scrapping, among other boondoggles, the F-22, a fighter plane that apparently specialized in Super Bowl flyovers. Despite the cuts, America still spends more on defense than the rest of the world combined. And then there's the cost of two wars to think about. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Zeroes In on Afghanistan

Staff / Truthdig Mar 31, 2009 On Sunday's "Face the Nation," President Obama did his best to convince CBS' Bob Schieffer, and by extension the American people, that he knows what he's doing in escalating U.S. military operations in Afghanistan -- and that this won't be his Vietnam. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Will Iran Come Out of the Nuclear Closet?

Staff / Truthdig Mar 15, 2009 A U.S. official believes that Iran has obtained enough nuclear material to make a bomb. Israel is believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, though it has never acknowledged this. Why does Iran pursue a nuclear bomb? And will Iran come out of the nuclear closet? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Pentagon to Revoke Coffin-Filming Ban

Staff / Truthdig Feb 27, 2009 Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that the Pentagon will, with some restrictions, allow the media to capture images of flag-draped military coffins entering the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, thus reversing a ban on coverage imposed in 1991. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Guantanamo Judge, Obama at Odds Over Trial Delay

Staff / Truthdig Jan 30, 2009 Army Col. James Pohl, a military judge at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has gone against President Barack Obama's call to suspend the hearing of the alleged orchestrator of the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

President Bush and the Flying Shoes: A Cautionary Tale

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Dec 17, 2008 The shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist is now a venerated celebrity throughout the Mideast, and his words to the president—“this is the farewell kiss, you dog”—will stand as the enduring epitaph in the region on Bush’s folly, which is the reality of his claimed legacy of success in the war on terror. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Will Obama Stay the Course?

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Dec 3, 2008 I do so want to believe that Barack Obama is on the right track. His brain is big, his style fresh, his pronouncements both logical and compelling, and it does feel good to have a president-elect elicit universal respect rather than make the world cringe. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Gates Was ‘Hoping the Question Would Never Be Popped’

Staff / Truthdig Dec 3, 2008 Fresh off his official introduction as the current and future secretary of defense, Robert Gates took questions at the Pentagon on Monday about his party affiliation, President-elect Barack Obama and his outlook on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gates Might Stick Around

Staff / Truthdig Nov 19, 2008 The Financial Times is reporting that Barack Obama is keen to have Robert Gates stay on as defense secretary. The paper says the two are currently negotiating their differences, but then that's the whole point: Obama wants people who disagree with him in his Cabinet. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Cold War Hawks Nesting With Obama

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Nov 12, 2008 So, Vladimir Putin was right: It was Georgia that started the war with Russia, and once again it was President Bush who got caught in a lie. No surprise, but it is a reminder of just how eager some are for a new Cold War and how indifferent they are to the truth of the matter. Updated Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Blackwater Plans to Back Away From Security Biz

Staff / Truthdig Jul 23, 2008 Stung by lawsuits, protests, government audits, criminal charges and negative media attention, executives from the mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide say providing security in Iraq and elsewhere has become a drain on the company's future and will be gradually all but phased out. However, there are no immediate plans to end the contract with the State Department which became so controversial after the company's agents went on a deadly shooting spree in Baghdad last year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Heads Roll at Air Force

Staff / Truthdig Jun 6, 2008 Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday axed two top Air Force honchos, Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, in a bid to do some damage control in the wake of the alarming incident last August in which nuclear warheads were mistakenly flown from North Dakota to Louisiana and another incident in which Air Force electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads were shipped to Taiwan. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )