Robert Gates: “The fact that we are a nation at war calls for sustaining the current military force structure.”

He's going to insist on occupying all four of the eastern provinces of the Donbas.

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

I think there is a cost. I think it does provide a basis for radicalization in the region.

He would be candid and honest, willing to tell the President straight from the shoulder what he needs to hear.