Robert Gates: “this results in a bureaucracy which has the fine motor skills of a dinosaur”

I think part of the problem is that at the end of the Cold War, we were affected by triumphalism or hubris, whatever you want to call it.

we always discover . . . that we [go] too far in cutting

My staff and I have learned that it was nearly impossible to get accurate information and answers to questions such as, 'How much money did you spend?' and, 'How many people do you have?'

it's a terrible way to budget. I mean, it is a gimmick.