Robert Gates

Pentagon's Gates to Face His Air Force Critics

By Paul Bedard - Washington Whispers - September 14, 2009

Under fire in Air Force circles, Defense Secretary Robert Gates isn't afraid to meet them head on. more >>

Honeybees to the Rescue on Battlefields

By Paul Bedard - Washington Whispers - June 7, 2009

A research team is looking into using bees to track the vapors explosives emit. more >>

Army Officials Stew over McKiernan Firing

By Paul Bedard and Anna Mulrine - Washington Whispers - May 31, 2009

They say the way Gates let the commander of troops in Afghanistan go was rude. more >>

Obama's Power Players: Gates Can Work Across Party Lines

By Amanda Ruggeri - Nation & World - May 19, 2009

The Defense Secretary's cautious realism is similar to Obama's approach to foreign policy. more >>

McChrystal Represents a New Direction at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan

By Joshua Kucera - Nation & World - May 18, 2009

Defense Secretary Gates brought in a new commander to replace McKiernan in Afghanistan. more >>

Why the Obama Administration is So Worried About Pakistan

By Thomas Omestad - Nation & World - April 28, 2009

The Taliban are advancing in Pakistan and it's unclear whether the government can push them back. more >>

Why the U.S. Military Is Wary of Open Warfare With Somali Pirates

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - April 21, 2009

The Pentagon will defend Americans against pirates, but it's reluctant to get too deeply involved. more >>

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Republican Star of the Obama Cabinet

By John Mashek - Opinion - April 21, 2009

Eyebrows were raised when he was asked to stay on, but defense secretary is earning his keep. more >>

Why the Heat Is on Robert Gates Over the Pentagon's Big-Ticket Weapons

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - March 25, 2009

The defense secretary faces a budget showdown over some of the Pentagon's most expensive systems. more >>

Team Obama: Jones, Clinton, and Gates Hit it Off

By Paul Bedard - Washington Whispers - March 14, 2009

Aides say that Obama's top advisers have good rapport. more >>

Defense Secretary Gates Could Stay Through Obama's 4 Years

By Paul Bedard - Washington Whispers - March 12, 2009

Forget all the media speculation that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is a short-timer. more >>

Lawmakers Fuel Border War Fire

By Paul Bedard and Alex Kingsbury - Washington Whispers - March 11, 2009

Diplomacy over U.S.-Mexico border junked with calls for another Black Jack Pershing to head south. more >>

Robert Gates Stays on to Fight a Few More Battles at the Pentagon

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - February 10, 2009

The Pentagon chief is waging the same wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a new boss. more >>

Some Freed Terrorism Detainees Return to the Fight

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - January 13, 2009

Just over 1 in 10 of those released from Guantánamo Bay are said to take up terrorist activities. more >>

Globalization, Terror Get Away From a West Suffering Historical Amnesia

By Kenneth Weisbrode - Opinion - January 12, 2009

Ignored in the good times, the patterns of history could bite us yet, Kenneth Weisbrode writes. more >>

Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, and the Strangelove Debate

By Robert Schlesinger - Robert Schlesinger - January 7, 2009

Who's in charge of foreign policy? more >>

Barack Obama, Robert Gates, and the Rumsfeld Pentagon-State Relationship

By Stephen Glain - Opinion - January 7, 2009

Defense secretary talks big on diplomacy, Stephen Glain writes, but must put money where his mouth is. more >>

In the Battle Against Modern-Day Pirates, the Pentagon Eyes Its Role Warily

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - December 23, 2008

Some want the U.S. military to go ashore in Somalia to hunt pirates, commanders aren't enthusiastic. more >>

Troops See a Candid Robert Gates at Town Halls Meetings in Afghanistan

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - December 12, 2008

The Pentagon chief has blunt words for NATO, saying U.S. bears "disproportionate" share of mission. more >>

Gates: Being Pentagon Chief for Bush and Obama Creates Some 'Awkwardness'

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - December 11, 2008

"I'm not forgetting at all who's the president," he says. more >>

Is Barack Obama's National Security Team a "Team of Rivals"?

Opinion - December 2, 2008

The strong personalities on the national security team could clash. more >>

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Robert Gates

By Jennifer O'Shea - Nation & World - December 1, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama named Gates defense secretary. more >>

Obama Picks Muscular National Security Team, Including Former Rival Hillary Clinton

By Amanda Ruggeri - Nation & World - December 1, 2008

Other names include Bush Pentagon chief Robert Gates and Eric Holder as attorney general. more >>

Obama Reportedly Taps Robert Gates, Bush's Pentagon Chief, to Stay On

By Amanda Ruggeri - Nation & World - November 26, 2008

Gates has a reputation for bipartisanship, but he will have to adapt to Obama's view of the Iraq war. more >>

America's Best Leaders: Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense

By Anna Mulrine - Nation & World - November 19, 2008

Pentagon chief looks for uses of "soft power" in a hard power world. more >>