Pentagon responds to 'Draft Gates' for President efforts
Washington (CNN) - Will a top member of the Obama administration try to take his boss' job in 2012?
If some people have their way, the answer would be, "Yes." But according to the Pentagon chief, the answer is, "No."
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Gates visits troops in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made a surprise visit to Afghanistan Tuesday to meet with officials and deliver a pat on the back to American troops slugging it out with militants there for more than nine years.
He touched down at Bagram Air Base in a stop made just days after U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to the country and on the same day British Prime Minister David Cameron was traveling there.
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Following Pentagon report, Gates urges passage of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal
(CNN) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the long awaited Pentagon report on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy indicates that over two-thirds of service members do not object to gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. armed forces.
Gates urged the Senate to pass a repeal of the policy before it is repealed by "judicial fiat."
Woodward's lure to get defense secretary to talk: ask nothing new
The yet-to-be published Bob Woodward book, Obama's Wars, has lots of insider details about the rancorous debate among administration officials as they tried to decide on a new strategy for Afghanistan.
One question that comes up with every Woodward book is why administration officials talk to him since his books do not always show White House officials in a flattering light. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered his defense – Woodward was not asking anything new.
Another Obama admin departure, this one with date uncertain
Washington (CNN) - He wants to leave next year. That much he has said. But the former spy chief and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been coy about the when.
But Thursday, a few clues to and lines to read between.
Gates arrives in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, citing some headway in Afghanistan, arrived in the war-torn country on Thursday to consult with political and military officials.
He will be meeting on Thursday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Gen. David Petraeus, who leads U.S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. The trip comes ahead of Afghan parliamentary elections later this month.
His trip comes a day after he visited Iraq, where he attended a change of command ceremony that marked the end of the U.S. combat mission there.
Gates marks ends Operation Iraqi Freedom with emotion and warning
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/31/art.robertgates.0831a.gi.jpg caption =" Defense Secretary Robert Gates grew emotional Tuesday when discussing the toll Operation Iraqi Freedom has taken on American men and women in uniform."]Washington (CNN) - Just hours before the official end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Defense Secretary Robert Gates grew emotional when discussing the toll it has taken on American men and women in uniform.
"Today, at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 4,427 American service members have died in Iraq, 3,502 of them killed in action; 34,265 have been wounded or injured," Gates said, appearing to choke up before an audience at the American Legion convention in Milwaukee Tuesday. "We must never forget."
Gates also warned that while the U.S. military can point to many accomplishments there, all is not "well in Iraq."
"The most recent elections have yet to result in a coalition government. Sectarian tensions remain a fact of life. Al Qaeda in Iraq is beaten, but not gone," he said. "This is not a time for premature victory parades or self-congratulation."
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White House not surprised by Gates announcement
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/24/art.gates.obama.0622.gi.jpg caption="The White House said Monday they have known all along Gates did not plan to stay on for the president's full term."]Milwaukee (CNN) - White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters Monday that President Obama expects Defense Secretary Robert Gates to leave the Cabinet soon and is not surprised by that development because the administration has long known that he would not stay long after agreeing to extend his tour of duty beyond the Bush administration.
"It's not a surprise to see him discussing his plans to move on," Burton told reporters as Obama toured a renewable energy facility here. "The president is thankful for his service. The American people have benefitted" from that service stretching back many years and several administrations.
Gates floats retirement
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/16/art.gates.035.gi.jpg caption =" Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to retire sometime next year, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Monday. "]
Washington (CNN) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to leave his post in the spring of 2011, a senior administration source told CNN on Monday.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that Gates wants to retire some time next year. Gates was quoted in an article in the magazine Foreign Policy published Monday saying he wanted to step down before the end of 2011.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said references in the article to Gates' desire to retire next year "accurately reflect the secretary's thoughts."
Petraeus wants to set record straight on July 2011
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/12/art.petraeus.file.jpg caption = "At his Senate confirmation hearing, Gen. David Petraeus emphasized that the July 2011 date is 'the beginning of a process, not the date when the U.S. heads for the exits.'"]
Washington (CNN) - One of the key goals of the new commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, is to try to settle the debate on the significance of the July 2011 date, according to an International Security Assistance Force official familiar with Petraeus' thinking.
After a month in the job, during which he stayed mostly out of public view, the general is preparing a round of interviews with media outlets.
July 2011 is the date President Barack Obama has set to begin reducing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But just what that will mean continues to be a question that the administration is struggling to answer clearly.
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