Robert Gates

We will hold ourselves accountable, and here are the things we will hold ourselves accountable to.

It is a courageous step. He has thought through his options and has presented Congress with a reasoned way forward.

The commissions are very much still on the table.

I fully support the closure of detention facilities at Guantanamo.

The detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay will be closed on or before January 22, 2010.

I've been arguing for it for 25 years. If you took every foreign service officer in the world, it wouldn't be enough people to crew one aircraft carrier.

The President has made the decision to close Guantanamo. It's something that his predecessor said should be done.

I think our policy was sometimes too arrogant.

the intelligence that I've gotten indicates that the first IOC for anything like a fifth-generation fighter in Russia would be about 2016, and in China would be about 2020.

Secretary Gates described these decisions as the product of 'a holistic assessment of capabilities, requirements, risks and needs for the purpose of shifting the department in a different strategic direction.'

It has become clear that America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long.

This problem will not be over in 18 months. This problem will not be over in 2 years.

the focus of the leadership on what's important. And that priority in my view, when we are at war is taking care of those who are at war.

Dr. Gates has made it a high priority, we certainly, in the Army, embrace it.

I think that the strategy needs to show some signs that it's working.

As I told a group of soldiers in Afghanistan, they have done their job; now it is time for us in Washington to do ours.

My personal view is that we probably do need a follow-on bomber.

This is a reform budget, reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet also addressing the range of other potential threats around the world now and in the future.

We cannot kill or capture our way to victory.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announcing today the military would use cash payments of $500 a month to retain troops.

The military is phasing out its controversial stop loss policy. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announcing today the military would use cash payments of $500 a month to retain troops.

We are now giving notice of mobilization 2 years out, and actually orders 1 year out.

Each defense budget decision is zero sum.

It is simply not reasonable to expect the defense budget to continue increasing at the same rate it has over the last number of years.

First, to reaffirm our commitment to take care of the All Volunteer Force, which in my view represents America's greatest strategic asset.