Robert Gates: “Gates is seeking Pakistan's help in preventing an expected Taliban offensive.”

I soon learned that the only way I could get significant new or additional equipment to commanders in the field in weeks or months, not years, was to take control of the problem myself through special task forces and ad hoc processes.

He is deeply knowledgeable about the international scene and geopolitics.

This is basically the responsibility of the president to educate people about why this is necessary.

My concern is, we don't have an overriding strategy on the part of the United States in this complex challenge over the next 20 to 30 years.