Robert Gates: “This would be a big operation in a big country.”

Without proper and predictable funding, no amount of reform or clever reorganization will provide America with a military capable of accomplishing the missions it's assigned to.

I'm always hesitant to get Congress involved in a problem, because you usually end up with a solution you don't like. But the problem that the conferences, the athletic conferences, are facing now, they're all multi-state conferences. And…

This is a Department that principally plans for war. It is not organized to wage war, and that is what I am trying to fix.

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