Gates Defends Pace Of Haitian Relief Effort

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday defended the pace at which U.S. resources are reaching Haiti.

"I don't know how this government could have acted faster," Gates said during a press briefing with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen. "There are just some certain facts of life."

Although the U.S. began mobilizing its relief efforts shortly after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, a large portion of supplies slated to be delivered via-boat will not arrive until this weekend.

The defense secretary outlined a number of limitations, including the speed of the vessels, the small size of Haiti's airport and the collapse of the country's infrastructure.

According to both Gates and Mullen, using airdrops to provide necessary resources was rejected early-on in the planning stages. Gates noted that there were concerns that dropping supplies onto the distressed Caribbean nation could lead to riots. Thus far, according to Gates, there has been some level of scavenging for food and water, coupled with minor looting.

By Monday, Haiti is expected to have access to 9,000-10,000 U.S. troops, both on and off-shore. According to Mullen, there is still a possibility that more can be sent as details of the country's status develop.

"We are poised to do that," said Mullen. "[The U.S.] always has a ready brigade."

McCain Supports Afghanistan Troop Surge, But Is Wary Of Timetable

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave high praise Tuesday to President Barack Obama’s decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but warned that the proposed withdrawal timetable could be devastating to the mission.

“I worry about that a great deal," said McCain during a discussion at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. "General McChrystal, in questioning by the House Armed Services Committee, was asked if he made that recommendation or ever referred to a date for withdrawal. He said no."

Earlier this month President Obama announced a 30,000 troop increase in Afghanistan along with plans to begin withdrawing forces in 18 months.

McCain urged the importance of victory in Afghanistan and argued that the failure could be completely devastating to the region.

“We cannot afford to lose this conflict. The repercussions of failure will reverberate for decades,” said McCain. “I will be an ally in this effort... I will work to get this policy the votes, the resources and the time it needs to work.”

McCain urged the President to gain support not only from Congress, but from the public as well.

Defense Secretary Gates Defends Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable

Senior Obama administration officials Wednesday defended the recently announced withdrawal timetable for Afghanistan in an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the timetable, which aims to begin removing U.S. troops by July of 2011, will not create a situation through which violent extremists can simply wait out the clock.

“We certainly would welcome them not being active for the next 18 months,” said Gates. “We are already in a situation in which they are emboldened ... and where they have the momentum right now. It’s not clear to me what more they can do than they can’t do right now.”

Gates added that the July date holds additional significance since it will mark two years since 12,000 U.S. troops were sent to Helmand this Summer.

While Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Michael Mullen stated that the withdrawal date was carefully considered, he did signal that it is not necessarily written in stone.

“By Mid-2011 we will know if we are going to succeed here or not,” said Mullen. “[The president said Withdrawal] would be responsible and it would be based on conditions. All of us can speculate on what those conditions will be, but I think we have to be careful about that.”

President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal timetable Tuesday evening coupled with a pledge to send 30,000 more U.S. troops.

Republican Leadership Protests New Missile Defense Strategy

By Ravi Bhatia-Talk Radio News Service

A number of high ranking Congressional Republicans Thursday protested President Barack Obama’s recent decision to scrap an Eastern European based missile defense system.

Ranking Member of the House Committee on Armed Services Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Michael Turner and House Chairman Michael Pence (R-Ind.) all delivered statements.

“We’re seeing this administration’s real national security policy emerge,” McKeon said. “The administration is capitulating to Russia’s demands, rewarding Russia for its divisive policies and actions.”

The plan eliminates former President George W. Bush’s planned missile defense system, which would have deployed either a radar system in the Czech Republic or 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland in order to deter long range and short range missiles. Instead, the Obama administration will use a system aimed more toward intercepting shorter-range missiles from Iran, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes pose a more immediate threat.

“The sudden turnaround, the sudden release of new intelligence information - that has not come the way of the Hill - is puzzling, to say the least,” Cantor said. “We await the answers associated with that turnaround from our administration.”

Cantor also said that he hoped Vice President Joe Biden was “misquoted” when he said he was much less concerned about Iran because Iran does not have the potential capacity to launch a missile at the United States.

“To me, implicit in [Biden’s] statement is that we should not naturally concern ourselves with the threat to our allies in Europe, to our allies in the Middle East such as Israel,” Cantor said.

Acording to Michael Turner, the Obama administration has cut missile defense funding by $1.2 billion. He also said that the plan will not provide the United States with long range missile defense until 2020, while the former plan would have considered long range missile defense as early as 2013.

“They’re retreating from the deployment of a missile defense shield in Europe,” he said.

“The Obama administration is continuing a policy of appeasement at the expense of our allies,” Pence said. “History teaches that weakness and appeasement invite aggression against peaceful nations.”

Adm. Mullen Discusses Threats Facing Troops In Afghanistan

By Sam Wechsler - Talk Radio News Service

Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke Wednesday about the need for the U.S. to better protect its troops from being harmed in the war in Afghanistan.

Mullen stated that “the center of gravity is really the protection of the [Afghan] people.” He added that civilian casualties are not conducive to winning the war.

He explained that the largest threats to the U.S. military in Afghanistan are attacks from IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) employed by the Taliban, and post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by American soldiers.

“We’ve come a long way with respect to [IEDs], but this is an enemy that is very adaptive and very capable...and as they adapt, we adapt, and they adapt again,” said Mullen. In order to better equalize the threat of IEDs, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is sending upwards of 2,000 armored all-terrain vehicles that provide better protection from the explosives.

“When I visit troops there is also a great skip in their step because they know they’ve made a difference, they’ve turned it around in a place like Iraq, and they’re very confident that they can get the job done in Afghanistan,” said Mullen.

As for a timetable, Mullen said that military must “turn the tide” against the Taliban within the next twelve to eighteen months.