After 17 years of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the next bill authorizing the Department of Defense’s budget will contain a provision instructing the Pentagon to repeal the military’s ban on open gay service after its Working Group issues its guidance for doing so. And the healthy margin by which More…
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal provisions about to be inserted into the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill are getting all the attention. But don’t forget that the bill is a venue for a much different showdown between the Pentagon and Congress. Defense Secretary Robert Gates certainly hasn’t.
A fresh-out statement from Geoff Morrell, chief spokesman for Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, reacting to the proposed legislative language for repealing the military’s ban on open gay service and the general legislative strategy of putting the repeal in the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill:
“Secretary Gates continues
It’s been a tough road to refurbishing the Air Force’s refueling tanker fleet. The Pentagon’s KC-X tanker bid has seen Northrup Grumman drop out in frustration. European defense giant EADS has been playing coy about bidding on the multi-billion-dollar contract. EADS said earlier this month it’s considering More…
When the Pentagon’s leadership announced a process to end the military’s ban on open gay service before Congress, Defense Secretary Robert Gates played the cautionary role. Gates told senators that he would put together a study group, led by Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham and Pentagon general counsel Jeh More…
While the nation is distracted by wondering about the status of Colt McCoy’s shoulder, the Pentagon emailed out the following statement from spokesman Geoff Morrell:
“Secretary Gates met with the President just before Christmas and gave him a commitment to stay on the job for AT LEAST another year. They
More on the question of Gen. Stanley McChrystal testifying to Congress, as the GOP leadership, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and now Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) all want, albeit for different reasons. Last month, when Skelton asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to produce McChrystal, Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell More…
As I observed yesterday, one of the ways that the Republicans are going to try to box President Obama in on escalating in Afghanistan is to call for Gen. Stanley McChrystal to testify before Congress in the hopes of getting him on record contradicting Obama. (The Washington Times has More…
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told our own Dave Weigel that “those in the Pentagon who do answer to the commander in chief and have to answer for his policy decisions” aren’t “at a point of liberty where they can speak their minds” on the overhauled missile defense system. More…
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) went on “Face The Nation” and balked at the idea of more troops for Afghanistan, following the lead of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). His colleague on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), had a memorable rejoinder:
Graham, who also serves
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