Speaking at the dedication ceremony for the Pentagon September 11 Memorial former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld makes a reference to a poem by Robert Frost. He says that America has been acquainted with the night and that the U.S. will force the dawn. (0:24)
President George W. Bush speaks at a dedication ceremony for the Pentagon September 11 Memorial. He speaks about the U.S. armed forces and says that because of them, there has not been a terrorist attack on American soil in the last 2,557 days. (0:19)
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates speaks at a ceremony to dedicate the Pentagon September 11 Memorial. He says that succeeding generations will not recall as vividly the events of that day and that makes the memorial, which is beneath the same flight path as the highjacked plane of Sept. 11, all the more important. (0:22)
Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at a ceremony to dedicate the Pentagon September 11 Memorial. He says that the ceremony is to honor the sacrifice of families that have lost a husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, or friend. (0:31)
Seven years after the airborne attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York, President Bush, accompanied by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates dedicated memorial to the memory of Pentagon employees and passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We claim this hallowed ground for peace and for healing. We claim it in the affirmation of our strongest belief as a people that every life is precious,” said Gates. The memorial is a series of 184 silver metal benches spread out over a flat park of gravel. Beneath each bench a pool of water reflects the luster of the metal bench that stretches over it. For the ceremony each bench was draped in a blue flag, giving the appearance of a covered casket.
Quoting the poet Robert Frost, Rumsfeld spoke of Sept. 11 as a day that the United States “became acquainted with the night.” Rumsfeld was lauded by the other speakers for his quick actions at the Pentagon on Sept. 11. Speaking of those who died that day he said, “Make no mistake, it was because they were Americans that they were killed in this place.”
Rumsfeld also spoke the the resolve of the American people and of the U.S. military, “We have been acquainted with the night, we have taken it’s measure and in the darkest of times we stood together. In defiance our nation has pressed on toward morning…Our nation will force the dawn.”
Admiral Mike Mullen the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also spoke to the families of those who died in the Pentagon, “We honor the heart wrenching sacrifice, the quite courage of those who called these souls dad, mom, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, friend.”
Bush spoke about the wars that have followed the attacks on the Pentagon. “Since Sept. 11 our troops have taken the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home,” he said. Shortly after the attacks the U.S. began military operations in Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban government which was harboring the al-Qaida terrorist group that planned and executed the attacks. Thanking the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, Bush noted, “There has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days.”
With the newly dedicated memorial and the Pentagon behind him, Sec. Gates spoke of the new meaning of the Department of Defense’s main building. “From this time forward the Pentagon will be more than a symbol of government, more than the seat of military power, it will also be a place of remembrance.”
“In the days and weeks ahead the Department of Defense will reexamine the whole gambit of our relationship with the Russian military,” said Secretary Robert Gates during a press briefing at the Pentagon. Gates said that not only was the Russian offensive against Georgia designed to punish Georgia for their claim and involvement in the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but to send a message on those seeking to build relationships with western nations.” I think that the Russian further message was to all of the parts of the former Soviet Union as a signal about trying to integrate with the west and move outside of the longtime Russian sphere of influence,” he said.
Gates and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Cartwright laid out the details of the U.S. humanitarian mission to Georgia, which has been involved in heavy fighting with Russia over the past week.
“Generally they are moving out of the cities,” said Cartwright of Russian forces which had gone as far as Gori, a town in central Georgia. “The air activities have slowed dramatically over the last 24 hours,” he said.
President Bush has charged the Department of Defense with a humanitarian mission to bring relief supplies to Georgians. Gates said that the relief mission will be the focus point. “I don’t see any prospect for the use of military force by the US in this situation,” said Gates. He also said that American support is “sequenced” with the humanitarian mission coming first and then security to execute that mission and then some kind of economic reconstruction.
Gates set the tone for a slow rebuilding of relations between the U.S. and Russia. When asked if he trusted Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Gates said, “I have never believe that one should make national security policy on the basis of trust. I think that you make national security policy based on interests and on realities.”
Acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donely says that for the Air Force mission to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal risk must be eliminated not merely managed. The Air Force recently underwent a shakeup due to an incident were missile material was mistakenly sent to Taiwan. (0:42)
Gen. Mark Hertling says that cease-fire periods to allow insurgent groups to turn themselves into police have worked in Iraq. He says that insurgents say they are seeing the power of the vote over the power of the gun. (0:43)
” We are seeing many insurgents come forward to reconcile and promise their support to the central govenrment,” said Maj. Gen. Hertling, commander of Multinational division North in Iraq. Hertling referred to a new week long cease fire by the provincial government of Diyala to give insurgents a chance to turn themselves in, as a “tactical pause.” Hertling said that this was a chance to give those who were “gang members’ or “just along for the money” a chance to turn themselves in. Hertling said that these less hardcore insurgents are seeing “the power of the vote overcoming the power of the gun.”
Hertling is the commander of northern Iraqi provinces where about 80 Georgian infantry soldiers have been serving These soldiers are now being centralized with the rest of the Georgian brigade serving in Iraq so that they can be redeployed back to T’blisi to support Georgian defense efforts in the conflict with Russia. In a past assignment Hertling served in Europe training Georgian soldiers. Hertling said that while the Georgians were able soldiers the coalition is able to adjust top their absence because there were so few of them.
Hertling also announced the attempt his area is making to reduce the number of “sons of Iraq” who are on the U.S. payroll. He said that they are working to place neighborhood security volunteers in Iraqi army or police unites as well as train them to take other jobs in the private sector. The process is taking time, Hertling said because job opportunities in northern Iraq are not readily available.
The Government Accounting Office last month sided with the Boeing Company’s complaint that the contract contest for a new refueling tanker airplane was unfair.
Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisitions Policy Shay Assad addressed the revised and reopened bidding process in a briefing at the Pentagon. He reiterated statements made by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that each of the findings in the GAO report were serious matters and that each issue is being addressed in “a measured and serious way.” Assad said that the Defense Department is trying to keep the interest of the warfighter and the taxpayer at the forefront.
The Department of Defense has created a new draft request for proposals and will meet with the two principal bidders Boeing and Northrop Grumman to discuss the new elements of the the request. The two companies will meet with the procurement and acquisitions teams over the next month and will talk through the final version of the request for proposals. The companies will then have 45 days to submit revisions. The end result is not expected until the very end of December 2008.
Assad said that in this request the Department of Defense has given clear and unambiguous insight into the level of importance given to performance factors and requirements valued by the Pentagon.
