Secretary Gates: This Is a Different Time—– Sees a Sinking Ship

“I’ve spent my entire adult life with the United States as a superpower, and one that had no compunction about spending what it took to sustain that position,” he tells NEWSWEEK, seated in a windowless conference room aboard the Boeing E-4B. “It didn’t have to look over its shoulder because our economy was so strong. This is a different time.”

A pause.

“To tell you the truth, that’s one of the many reasons it’s time for me to retire, because frankly I can’t imagine being part of a nation, part of a government … that’s being forced to dramatically scale back our engagement with the rest of the world.”

 The Pentagon says it’s working to come up with new guidelines regarding gays serving in the military after a court ruling restored the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, at least for now.

Defense Department spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday that he expects the guidelines be announced later in the day.

An injunction last week barring the military from following the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law prompted the Pentagon to order that recruiters must accept applications from gays, and military lawyers must stop prosecuting cases aimed at firing them.

But a Wednesday ruling froze that injunction. That means the military could at least temporarily return to its policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly, while the courts continue to consider the question.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101021/ap_on_re_us/us_gays_in_military

NOTE: Regardless of which side of this sue you are on, this is the proper manner to handle this until the Pentagon and Congress address the issue of repealing DADT, or the matter reaches the Supreme Court, whichever comes first.

Liz Cheney on “This Week” said that the lack of a decision on Afghanistan is “completely inexcusable.”

Liz Cheney said “I think it’s just completely inexcusable that we’ve now had month after month of photo-op out of the White House and no decision.” She said “the President is very fond of saying, “before I commit troops I’m going to think very carefully about it,” somebody in the White House needs to remind him he’s already committed troops. We’ve got American men and women in Afghanistan today.”

http://www.freedomslighthouse.com/2009/11/liz-cheney-indecision-on-afghanistan-is.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FreedomsLighthouse+%28Freedom%27s+Lighthouse%29

WASHINGTON – The Potomac River is a physical as well as a figurative divide between the White House and the Pentagon, and occupants of each building often refer to the other address as a slightly foreign place “across the river.”

The gulf is suddenly on display as President Barack Obama contemplates whether to widen the U.S. commitment to the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan, a battle that is losing political and popular support even as it replaces Iraq as the military’s No. 1 priority.

The White House is now uncertain whether to stick with a long-planned military recalibration of the war, a hesitance that has stoked new tensions with the Defense Department.

After nine months of harmony, officials say it’s nowhere near the schism that cleaved the military and the Clinton administration in the 1990s. But how the young Democratic administration and its commanders navigate this turbulence will play a critical role both in the management of the war and the cultivation of support from both the military and the American public.

A senior administration official described it as “a realignment check” and played down suggestions that military leaders feel undercut. Pentagon officials insisted there is no crisis of confidence on either side but acknowledged raw feelings and a sense of impatience.

Several officials in Washington and Afghanistan spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not decided on his next move.

“I do not doubt that there are people in this building and elsewhere who feel very strongly about this and may be voicing some frustration at the pace of this decision,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

For Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_an/us_us_afghanistan_across_the_river_analysis

     Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today announced his intentions to request more troops for Afghanistan, and to provide for relief of some who have been in the field longer than they should have been.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday announced a temporary increase in the size of the U.S. Army that would boost the force by up to 22,000 troops for three years.

He told reporters at a news briefing that the increase, intended to cope with strains from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, would raise the total strength of the Army to 569,000 soldiers.

“The Army faces a period where its ability to deploy combat units at acceptable fill rates is at risk,” Gates told reporters. “This is a temporary challenge which will peak in the coming year and abate over the course of the next three years.”

Full Article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090720/ts_nm/us_usa_military_army

Note to “Arianna” and “Markos”: Where is the left wingnuts blasting the Obama administration for this “war effort”? Why are you not calling for his impeachment?

SO MUCH FOR TRANSPARENCY:

W. House: DoD Officials Must Vow Secrecy on Budget

By JOHN T. BENNETT
Published: 19 Feb 20:52 EST (01:52 GMT)

  Print  |    Email

 

The Obama administration has directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government.

In an undated non-disclosure agreement obtained by Defense News, the administration tells defense officials that “strict confidentiality” must be practiced to ensure a “successful” and “proper” 2010 defense budget process.

Related Topics

• Americas

The secrecy pact comes as dozens of Bush-era Pentagon appointees remain on the job, asked to stay on by the Obama administration until replacements are confirmed to ensure continuity during wartime.

The Pentagon and Office of Management and Budget have agreed on a fiscal 2010 defense budget top line figure of $537 billion. That level is nearly $50 billion lower than the $585 billion defense plan created during the final months of the Bush administration, and $24 billion higher than the already enacted $513 billion 2009 defense budget.

The pledge covers any data about the 2010 budget, including: “planning, programming and budgeting system documents and databases, and any other information” that concerns the administration’s internal discussions about “the nature and amounts of the president’s budget for fiscal year 2010, and any supplemental budget request during the current fiscal year.”

The administration is requiring defense officials to promise they will not divulge the kinds of information covered in the document “to any individual not authorized to receive it.”

“Under no circumstances will I disclose such information outside the Department of Defense and other government agencies directly involved in the defense planning and resource-allocation process, such as the Office of Management and Budget,” the agreement said.

 

http://defendourfreedoms.us/2009/02/22/w-house-dod-officials-must-vow-secrecy-on-budget.aspx

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3956514&c=AME&s=TOP