Topic: Robert Gates

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Pentagon budget: top 3 winners and losers

In Pentagon parlance, the word “cut” is a relative term. The Defense Department’s base budget decreases from $553 billion this year to $525 billion in 2013, but it rebounds steadily to $567 billion in 2017. With this in mind, here are the top three winners and losers:
Five ways 9/11 has transformed the US military

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, fundamentally transformed the way the United States military wages war, forcing the Pentagon to rethink some of its basic tenets. Here are the Top 5 changes since 9/11.
Who will carry out Obama's Afghanistan exit plan? Three new guys.

It will be the duty of three men, all new in their roles, to carry out Obama's plan to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Here are some clues into what priorities these three defense leaders might set and a look at the particular skills each brings to the task of managing America’s longest war.
In Pictures: Leon Panetta's career
In Pictures: Robert Gates through the years

All Content

France's Afghanistan pull-out signals war fatigue driving European defense cuts

Disillusionment with warfare, coupled with economic troubles, has given European defense cuts strong momentum. But defense experts worry they are being made too haphazardly.
With Iran, Syria looming, can Obama save NATO from disaster at Chicago summit?

The 2010 NATO Summit in Lisbon produced a bold vision for NATO’s future. With one week to the Chicago summit, not nearly enough progress has been made. To avoid the Chicago summit ending up as a total bust, Obama must push NATO leaders to address three key issues.
Cover Story
Putin inauguration: World view of a Russian feeling dissed

As the second presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin approaches, a former correspondent who once worked for him looks at the world view of the Russian iron man. His theory: The president is feeling dissed by the West and believes it conspires to "destroy" Russia.
Why North Korea missile launch angers US, Japan (+video)

North Korea announced plans to launch a satellite atop a ballistic missile. The US says North Korea would be violating a UN resolution.
John McCain badgers Pentagon on Syria: 'We're not leading'

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta defended America's cautious stance on Syria in a Senate hearing Wednesday. A day earlier, President Obama said that unilateral action in Syria would be a mistake.
Bin Laden hide-out: Leaks suggest Pakistani officers knew

Bin Laden hide-out: Material from WikiLeaks suggests mid-ranking Pakistani Army officials may have known about the Osama bin Laden hide-out in Pakistan, but official US statements do not back that up.
Pentagon budget: top 3 winners and losers

In Pentagon parlance, the word “cut” is a relative term. The Defense Department’s base budget decreases from $553 billion this year to $525 billion in 2013, but it rebounds steadily to $567 billion in 2017. With this in mind, here are the top three winners and losers:
Daring special forces raid shows Somali pirates are on the run

The SEAL Team Six rescue of an American hostage shows US special forces are tightening the noose on increasingly desperate Somali pirate groups, military analysts say.
Transcript of the State of the Union

President Obama's speech, as prepared for delivery by the White House.
Is Obama weak on Iran? GOP sees hot issue in crisis over nuclear program.

The growing international crisis over Iran's nuclear program and Americans' preference that US military action be avoided if possible presents an extra challenge to Obama's reelection efforts.
Bradley Manning: How alleged intelligence leaker will defend himself

The defense strategy for Bradley Manning is that the classified information he allegedly gave to WikiLeaks wasn't harmful to US interests. Another defense focus: failings up the military chain of command.
Pentagon to abandon two-war strategy, but at what cost to US security?

The Pentagon has long said it must be prepared to fight two wars at once. Budget cuts and changing global threats mean that standard is no longer practical, experts say.
Who will be whispering in Hillary Clinton’s ear now?

Secretary Hillary Clinton, eager for the State Department to have its own advisory panel of big thinkers, is convening the new, 25-member Foreign Affairs Policy Board this month.
Palestinian statehood bid adds urgency for Israeli-Palestinian peace

Quartet envoy Tony Blair held talks today to prod Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table amid concern about a looming UN vote on Palestinian statehood.
Backchannels
Qaddafi's death leaves a Libya that must build itself from scratch

Muammar Qaddafi's government was one of a kind, with no independent institutions. That means Libya's new government has nothing, good or bad, to build on.
LRA leader Joseph Kony: Why Obama sent US troops to Uganda to get him

The feared group LRA is responsible for the murder and rape of thousands in Central Africa. Siding with interventionist advisers, Obama sent the US troops to help remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield.
GOP candidates show more loyalty to a foreign country (Israel) than their own

Republican presidential candidates do the United States a disservice in trying to bind an American president to the policies of Israel and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. Whatever happened to GOP foreign-policy realists, like Bush I?
Global News Blog
Good Reads: Amanda Knox released, Panetta in Israel, and US foreign aid cuts

With Amanda Knox's murder conviction overturned, the world's press can now return to other matters, such as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and looming US foreign aid cuts contemplated by Congress.
Leon Panetta in Israel: Will his urgent messages bring action?

Amid US concerns over Israel's growing isolation from its Mideast neighbors, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has an urgent message for the country's leaders: Re-engage in the peace process.
Hillary Clinton: more 'smart power' needed in terrorism fight

Hillary Clinton announced Friday the creation of a new Global Counterterrorism Forum, which will use 'smart power' such as diplomacy and democracy to fight terrorism.
Five ways 9/11 has transformed the US military

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, fundamentally transformed the way the United States military wages war, forcing the Pentagon to rethink some of its basic tenets. Here are the Top 5 changes since 9/11.
Libya's lessons for NATO – and US defense cuts

NATO airstrikes were critical to Qaddafi's fall, but behind the scenes, the weakness of Europe's militaries and its leadership revealed problems for the US in its prime alliance – and in coming defense cuts.
Could NATO's Libya mission be its last hurrah?

With the austerity gripping Europe and a new generation of leaders not shaped by cold-war politics, NATO's future is increasingly in question.
Afghanistan and Libya point NATO to five lessons

Both the wars in Afghanistan and Libya reveal serious flaws in the alliance. If they can’t be fixed, perhaps it's time for a 'back to basics' NATO and a return to coalitions of the willing.
Pentagon chief Panetta: US within reach of defeating Al Qaeda

On his first trip to Afghanistan as Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta offered an upbeat assessment. "We're within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda," he said.