Robert Gates: “If you're in Iraq and trying to kill our troops, then you should consider yourself a target.”

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

I think appearances do matter.

I'm kind of pessimistic for the near term.

I think the president is — based on what I read — is getting the sense that, as he put it, that Putin is 'tapping' him along.