Sec. Gates Wants DADT Repeal Before 2011, Says Senior CAP Member

Winnie Stachelberg, the Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, cites Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who recently said that he wants “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repealed before the start of the new year. (0:07)

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Asian Affairs Expert: Taiwan Relations Act Is Key For Stability In Taiwan

Dean Cheng, an Asian Studies researcher at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., discusses U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments in Hanoi this week regarding China’s aggravation over America’s selling of arms to the government of Taiwan. (0:29)

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Arms Sale Is A White House Issue Says Asian Affairs Expert

Dean Cheng, an Asian Studies researcher at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., discusses U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments in Hanoi this week regarding China’s aggravation over America’s selling of arms to the government of Taiwan.

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Defense Secretary Gates Dismisses Conspiracy Theories From Pakistan

Defense Secretary Robert Gates dismissed a number of conspiracy theories that have originated in Pakistan as nonsense. Gates explained that the U.S. was not interested in taking over the country's nuclear arsenal or pose an occupation. (0:23)
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Iran Faces Additional Sanctions From International Community, Says Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Friday that Iran is likely to receive additional sanctions from the international community if the Iranian government does not adhere to conditions agreed upon in October. (0:15)
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Military Action Against Iran Will Only 'Buy Some Time,' Says Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that a military action against Iran will only "buy some time." Gates says that the only way to avoid a nuclear armed Iran is to convince the Iranian government that they will be less secure with nuclear weapons through a series of incentives and disincentives. (0:29)
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Iran 'Stiffing' The International Community, Says Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Friday that Iran is "stiffing" the international community by deviating from agreements they have made. Gates says this move has united the international community in opposition to Iran more than additional sanctions would have. (0:25)
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"Pieces Coming Together" In Afghanistan Says Gates

In remarks delivered from the Defense Department's Command Center, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says President Barack Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan gives the U.S. military "new opportunities" in its fight against enemy forces. (:37)
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Gates Warns Against Crossing Soldiers' Mental Boundaries

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans says that Afghanistan is the longest war the U.S. has fought with an all-volunteer army. He states that U.S. troops have shown remarkable resilience, but notes that nobody knows the extent of their limits of the consequence of crossing them. (0:31)
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Department of Defense Spokeswoman Says New Missile Plan Not About Russia

Under Secretary of Department of Defense Michele Flournoy says the new short-range missile defense plan is not about abandoning European allies. She says the plan is not, and has never been about pleasing Russia. (0:30)
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Gates On Priorities of Defense Budget FY 2010

U.S Secretary of Defense Robert Gates discusses the priorities set for the FY 2010 Defense Budget announced in May by President Barack Obama. Gates states greater commitment to the well being of the soldiers, rebalancing the department's programs and finally reforming expenses as the main focus of the Department of Defense. (0:52)
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Where Did Presidential Helicopters Go?

Ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Bill Young asks why the government wasted taxpayers' money on presidential helicopters which are now judged obsolete. To this, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates replies that this was not intended. (0:44)
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Gates' Three Objectives For Defense Budget

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates describes the three objectives of the Defense budget: to take care of the forces, to rebalance the Department's programs and to start a reform on how and what the Department buys. (0:44)

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Analyst: Gates's budget cut endangers national security

Jonathan Bronstein talks to Mackenzie Eaglen, an analyst for the Heritage Foundation, about Robert Gates's announcement to cut the military budget and how what affect it will have on national security. However, Eaglen believes that such a move is dangerous because weapon technology research takes decades to create so any cut in the budget now will undoubtedly affect the future.

Additionally, she questions the critics who complain about the Department of Defense, DOD, overspending as, "the GAO [Government Accountability Office] has been reporting on the top ten DOD weapons systems cost overruns for years," and only recently has it become a large issue. (1:05)
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Gates: We have entered the endgame in Iraq

At the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on the Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that he agrees with the President that the reduction in troops is a return on success, but would expand on that. The changes on the ground is reflective of a fundamental change in the nature of the conflict. No matter how you think about the origins of the war in Iraq, “we must get the endgame right,” and he says he believes that we have entered that endgame and that our decisions today are critical to region security and national security interests for years to come. (0:33)


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Praise for Petraus and the surge

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking at a ceremony in Baghdad, praises Gen. David Petraeus as he prepares to leave his post as Multinational Force commander in Iraq to take over the post of Combatant commander for Central Command. (0:27)
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When is Afghanistan a "must"?

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) asks Defense Department officials when and under what conditions will Afghanistan become a military priority. (0:23)
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Cost of Afghan troops exceed government's revenue

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee both the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Micheal Mullen and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, express concern about the cost of building up the Afghan army. Gates says that training and equipping more troops will cost several billion dollars while the government of Afghanistan only brought in about $7 million in revenue. (0:52)
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Pakistan-Afghanistan border "a real problem"

Speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce North American Forum, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a "real problem". He also said that U.S. needs to give the new Pakistan government time to organize. (0:58)
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Iran negotiations make no sense

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) criticizes the negotiation process with Iran saying that it makes no sense to have the principal argument as a precondition to talks. (0:30)
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