Robert Gates: “I think appearances do matter.”

We want everything that's possible, and a lot of things that aren't possible, in a new system.

Allies are a huge asset and in not understanding that I think is a real problem.

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.

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.