“Defense Secretary” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — Memories of horror and heroism echoed Sunday across the west side of the Pentagon where, a decade ago, a hijacked airplane carrying 59 doomed passengers and crew and 36,200 pounds of jet fuel smashed into the fortress-like military headquarters, killing all aboard and 125 inside. (more)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates tried to smooth the worst rift in years with Arab ally and oil producer Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, reassuring the Saudi king that the U.S. remains a steady friend despite support for pro-democracy revolutions in the Middle East. (more)

Last month, Robert Gates spoke — granted, without revealing much — about his plans to step down as secretary of defense later this year: “I’m going to be around for a number of months. And I will be around through all the [budget] hearings, through the debate, and so on,” he told reporters during a trip to Ottawa, Canada. (more)

With the Pentagon set to release their survey of military opinion on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) Tuesday, military and religious groups are speaking out against repealing DADT on the grounds that it will restrict religious freedom in the Armed Services. (more)

The head of the Transportation Security Administration John Pistole said there would not be any immediate changes made to the TSA’s screening policy, but the administrator has been slowly walking back his defense of the invasive screening process since releasing a statement Sunday night. (more)

Given the increase in troops in Afghanistan, the extension of the Patriot Act, the continuation of Robert Gates’ stint as defense secretary, the recent success in capturing senior Al Qaeda operatives, and the increase in effective drone attacks in Pakistan, why are so many still worried that our new president may be weak on defense? (more)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday he will retire by the end of 2011, Fox News confirmed. (more)

SAN DIEGO, California (Reuters) – For sailors aboard the USS Higgins docked in San Diego, a popular question for visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday was how the austerity drive he announced this week would affect them. (more)

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that the Pentagon will cut thousands of jobs, including a substantial chunk of its private contractors and a major military command based in Norfolk, as part of an ongoing effort to streamline its operations and to stave off political pressure to slash defense spending in the years ahead. (more)

WikiLeaks put its own interests above those on the front lines in Afghanistan, the Secretary of Defense said on Sunday. (more)

The unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military reports this week about the war in Afghanistan could have severe consequences for U.S. troops and their allies, and could cost people their lives, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday. (more)

HANOI, Vietnam — North Korea on Friday threatened the United States and South Korea with a “physical response” to planned weekend naval exercises as tensions with the communist nation rose in the aftermath of the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North. (more)

(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama’s defense chief begins a visit to South Korea on Monday in one of the strongest shows of support for its military ally locked in a bitter feud with North Korea over a deadly torpedo attack. (more)

President Obama used Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday for a stealth attack on Mitt Romney, a leading Republican presidential contender in 2012. (more)

In a recent article in The Daily Caller, Chet Nagle claims that the Obama administration “plans to eliminate over a trillion defense dollars in the next ten years.” Unfortunately, he has no basis for saying so. (more)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday he wants to trim some of the billions of dollars the Pentagon spends on weapons systems and contractor services, part of a Pentagon-wide effort to find $100 billion in savings in the next five years (more)

American naval supremacy has ensured our nation’s strength both militarily and economically for the past century, but a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the Obama administration’s budget proposal suggests that could be coming to an end. (more)

John Bresnahan’s latest Politico article must have them high-fiving in the White House. Entitled “Gates may get lift from tea parties,” the story concludes: “Key tea party players, on and off Capitol Hill are expressing a willingness to put the Pentagon budget on the chopping block if it will help rein in federal spending and eliminate a projected trillion-dollar-plus budget deficit.” (more)

The archbishop for the U.S. military spoke out for the first time against the effort to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” setting up a possible conflict between Pentagon brass and the 285 Roman Catholic priests who serve on active-duty  in the military. (more)

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