defense secretary

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McNamara, Palin Share Lousy Exit Strategies

(Newser) - The governor of Alaska and the architect of the Vietnam War both make fine examples of how not to quit a government post, David Broder writes in the Washington Post. Robert McNamara waited 28 years to explain that he stepped down as defense secretary because of his grave doubts about...

Rot in Hell, Mr. McNamara
 Rot in Hell, Mr. McNamara 
Non-Appreciation
Jul 7, 2009 7:32 AM CDT

Rot in Hell, Mr. McNamara

(Newser) - At long last, Robert Strange McNamara has “shuffled off to join LBJ and Dick Nixon in the 7th level of hell,” writes journalist and author Joseph Galloway, who couldn’t be more pleased. “McNamara was the original bean-counter—a man who knew the cost of everything but...

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
legacy
Jul 6, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam

(Newser) - Robert McNamara led many careers but will be best remembered for his time as secretary of defense during the Vietnam War. Though he privately disagreed with some decisions, he maintained a public optimism about “McNamara’s War” that earned him derision, Reuters reports. Describing the impact of the war...

Vietnam Architect Robert McNamara Dead at 93

Kennedy appointee held post during Vietnam war

(Newser) - Robert S. McNamara, who presided over the escalation of the Vietnam War as Defense secretary under presidents Kennedy and Johnson, died at his home this morning after a period of failing health, his wife told the AP. He was 93. Known as a policymaker with a fixation for statistical analysis,...

Gates Seeks to Make 'Don't Ask' More Humane

Military may not boot gays outed by jilted lovers, blackmailers

(Newser) - The Obama administration is looking for ways to get around the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that forbids gays from serving openly in the military, CNN reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he is investigating ways to make the policy “more humane,” such as not...

Afghan Taliban Have Momentum: Gates

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the...

Gates' Laser Focus on Wars Reshapes Pentagon

(Newser) - Bush-holdover Robert Gates is using his position in the Obama administration to try to remake Washington’s biggest bureaucracy, refocusing it on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. Gates has pushed the Pentagon to shift from preparing for high-tech conventional wars of the future to...

US to Replace Afghan Commander

(Newser) - Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced as chief of NATO’s Afghan mission by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special ops officer, ABC News reports. McKiernan has held his post for just 11 months, and it is unclear where he will go. The move, to be announced at a...

White House Aide Quits in Flyover; Gates Sorry

(Newser) - Robert Gates has apologized for the Air Force One photo op debacle over New York last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We deeply regret the anxiety and alarm that resulted from this mission,” the defense secretary wrote in a letter posted on the website of John McCain,...

Gates Axes F-22 in Pentagon Budget Overhaul

Defense sec cuts deep, readies dep't for this century's wars

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates today recommended halting production of the F-22 fighter jet and scrapping a new helicopter for the president as he outlined deep cuts to many of the military's biggest weapons programs. Gates said his $534 billion budget proposal represents a "fundamental overhaul" in defense acquisition...

Army Phasing Out Program Holding Soldiers After Service

Gates announces end to forced extensions

(Newser) - The Army plans to stop forcing soldiers to serve again after their enlistment contracts are up, reports the Washington Post. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans yesterday to phase out the “stop-loss” program—which keeps soldiers in the Army beyond their service obligation—over the next two years. Some...

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban
 Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban 
Feb 26, 2009 1:39 PM CST

Pentagon Lifts Coffin Media Ban

(Newser) - The Pentagon has lifted the media ban at Dover (Del.) Air Force Base and will allow photos of the coffins of US war casualties returning from overseas—provided the service members' families approve. Under the new rules, the families can withhold permission, CNN reports. Some relatives had lobbied against...

Pentagon Warned: Prepare to Shut Gitmo

Dilemma is what to do with worst inmates

(Newser) - The Pentagon has been ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to draw up plans to be prepared to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center soon after President-elect Obama takes office, reports the Voice of America. The immediate problem is what to do with prisoners who likely can't be convicted in...

Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama
 Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama 
Dec 13, 2008 12:26 PM CST

Gates: Don't 'Test' Obama

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates assured the world today that there would be continuity between the administrations of George Bush and Barack Obama, and that anyone who thought otherwise “would be sorely mistaken,” the BBC reports. Gates, who will be staying on in the Obama Cabinet, told an audience...

Kissinger High on Obama-Clinton Team
 Kissinger High on 
 Obama-Clinton Team 
OPINION
Dec 5, 2008 10:35 AM CST

Kissinger High on Obama-Clinton Team

Obama's sound choices pose cooperative challenges

(Newser) - Barack Obama wasn’t afraid to take risks in choosing his national security team, and the outcome has left Henry Kissinger optimistic, he writes in the Washington Post. Each member comes to the “team of heavyweights” with well-established views and an “autonomous constituency.” That could mean a...

Obama Foreign-Policy Team Signals Shift to Diplomacy

Clinton, Gates, Jones will lead diplomatic reform

(Newser) - The three lead players on the national security team Barack Obama will announce today have each historically been more hawkish than the president-elect—but all have embraced his plan for a sweeping foreign policy shift, the New York Times reports. Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates will work...

Why Gates Should Stay &mdash;and Why He Shouldn't
Why Gates Should Stay
—and Why He Shouldn't
ANALYSIS
Nov 21, 2008 1:25 PM CST

Why Gates Should Stay —and Why He Shouldn't

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom has it that Barack Obama will ask Robert Gates to keep his post as Secretary of Defense, but there’s no conventional wisdom about how wise that is. “It has more minuses than pluses,” opines one ex-Pentagon official, but others disagree. Some pros and cons:
  • Gates
...

Obama Talks to Gates About Staying at Pentagon

Defense Secretary fulfill talk of bipartisan cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Robert Gates are negotiating policy issues with a view toward Gates remaining Defense secretary, the Financial Times reports, a move that would make the Bush appointee a key member of a bipartisan cabinet that resembles Abraham Lincoln's “team of rivals.” Gates, a former CIA chief,...

Secret Directive Lets US Attack Up to 20 Nations

Rumsfeld order in '04 allowed peacetime strikes on al-Qaeda

(Newser) - The American military has conducted almost a dozen secret attacks against al-Qaeda and other militant groups in Syria, Pakistan, and other nations since 2004, the New York Times reveals. The strikes were carried out under a classified order signed by Donald Rumsfeld that gave sweeping powers to let the military...

Obama Gets First Taste of Commander-in-Chief Role

Gets first national security briefing, assembles staff

(Newser) - Barack Obama receives his first top-secret national intelligence briefing today, and with it his first taste of life as commander-in-chief, reports Time. Already international concerns are vying for Obama’s attention—Hamid Karzai is demanding the president-elect reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s PM wants him to end...

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