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)
Pentagon Correspondent Dawn Casey will attend Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates’s honor cordon to welcome Denmark’s Minister of Defense Soren Gade. Legal Affairs Correspondent Jay Goodman Tamboli will cover the Supreme Court arguments in Altria v. Good dealing with lawsuits against tobacco companies. The Washington Bureau will also be covering the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on “The causes and effects of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy,” a discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center on “North Ossetia’s geopolitical entanglements,” a protest by Vietnam veterans and Vietnam’s victims of Agent Orange to have the Supreme Court consider their lawsuit against chemical companies, a discussion at the Institute for Policy Studies on “War, peace, and the 2008 presidential race,” the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research’s discussion on “Beyond Georgia: Securing America’s allies on Russia’s periphery,” and an address by World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick on “Development and the implications from the global financial crisis.”
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)
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)
During a press briefing at the Pentagon, Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell says that it is no secret that, of the two fronts, Iraq is the priority for the Pentagon and the current administration. He says that the U.S. does not lack committment to Afghanistan and it is a matter of timing when more troops will be sent to Afghanistan. (0:52)
Today at the Washington Bureau, Chief Pentagon Correspondent Meredith MacKenzie will be covering events at the Pentagon. Legal Affairs Correspondent Jay Tamboli will be at the Supreme Court. Chief United Nations Correspondent Dan Patterson will be at the UN, after which he will go to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to cover the floods with Correspondent Dawn Jones.
Staff will covering a defense briefing with General Dan McNeille, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, a discussion on “Iran, Middle East and Russian Perspectives,” events at the “Prepare for Launch” health reform summit, a discussion on “How will the next president reduce nuclear dangers?” and a conference call briefing to release the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for June and discuss what the housing market needs to get back on track.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon, says that European NATO member countries need to be aware that they face a direct threat of terrorism from Afghanistan, and that should inspire them to increase their commitments to the war there. (0:25)
Sec. Gates, speaking during his trip through Asia, says that there has been a shift in U.S. military thinking away from permanent bases and toward empowering other nation’s national defense. (0:50)
