6 blog reactions to blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2008/04/gates_moderate_to_a_fault.html

way, rather than play to our inherent strengths. Overall, the kinds of capabilities we will most likely need in the years ahead will often resemble the kinds of capabilities we need today. (A quick aside: Washington Post columnist Bill Arkin has expressed some frustration with Gates' tone in speeches like this, where Gates 'takes on' the brass. Gates is the Secretary of Defense, so why does he sound like a commentator railing against the Pentagon-weapons manufacturer axis, rather than like someone who

The controversy over the availability of unmanned reconnaissance and strike drones in Iraq and Afghanistan has become one of those quintessential Washington dramas that plays while Rome burns. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is pushing for more drones to support the troops, while the self-interested Air Force is resisting. The false solution, as I have written, is as simple as more equipment and more money. Arkin points out that when we send Predators and Global Hawks to do our dirty work while we

The controversy over the availability of unmanned reconnaissance and strike drones in Iraq and Afghanistan has become one of those quintessential Washington dramas that plays while Rome burns. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is pushing for more drones to support the troops, while the self-interested Air Force is resisting. The false solution, as I have written, is as simple as more equipment and more money. Read more

by small-arms fire while his patrol was conducting operations in eastern Baghdad at approximately 2:20 p.m. April 23." Turning to the US, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been receiving a great deal of attention for statements made this week. William M. Arkin (Washington Post) evaluates the statements and evaluates Gates tenure in his post finding, "Gates' problem in the end is not just a military institution that resents being held to task for the sins of the civilian ideologues and amateurs. It is that, if the military were doing

Turning to the US, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been receiving a great deal of attention for statements made this week. William M. Arkin (Washington Post) evaluates the statements and evaluates Gates tenure in his post finding, "Gates' problem in the end is not just a military institution that resents being held to task for the sins of the civilian ideologues and amateurs. It is that, if the military were doing

be hard to criticize him for not getting much done. He inherited a multitude of conflicts, a wounded military and a bulging budget. Still, it is possible to find fault with his recent comments about military culture and military-civilian relations. Read more