Robert Gates: “I am cautioned to say the Iraq war is ending, not has ended.”

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

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.

the real problem with United States policy in the Middle East is the lack of a clear strategy.

Putin believes it's his destiny to recreate the Russian empire.