Gates: U.S. must work still with Pakistan

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, and Adm. Mike Mullen appear Wednesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing.NEW: 27 senators call for revising the mission in Afghanistan Adm. Mullen says budget cuts are "painful ... but they're absolutely necessary"Defense Secretary Gates notes that allies lie to and spy on the United StatesGates will step down at the end of June

Washington (CNN) -- The nation's top military man warned Wednesday that the United States must continue to work with Pakistan as a partner despite years of mistrust.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen did not directly refer to the latest point of tension between the countries: Pakistani authorities' arrests of people who provided assistance and information before the successful raid on the Osama bin Laden compound and the killing of the al Qaeda leader.

However, Mullen said Pakistan remains crucial to U.S. strategy.

"We must continue to pursue a partnership with Pakistan," Mullen told the Senate Appropriation panel's defense subcommittee. "The alternative -- drifting toward a more contentious or fractured relationship -- is far more detrimental to U.S. interests in strategically defeating al Qaeda and ensuring nuclear weapons do not fall into terrorists' possession."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared with Mullen to give his last testimony before his retirement at the end of the month. When asked about rocky relations with allies such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, Gates offered some political reality on global diplomacy.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, asked Gates how long the United States should support "governments that lie to us," adding: "When do we say enough is enough?"

Gates responded that "based on 27 years in the CIA and four and a half years in this job, most governments lie to each other. That's the way business gets done."

"Do they also arrest the people that help us when they say they are allies?" Leahy asked, in clear reference to Pakistan's actions against officials who helped the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound.

"Sometimes," Gates said, "and sometimes they send people to spy on us and they are our close allies.

"That's the real world that we deal with."

Wednesday's hearing examined the defense budget in a political climate of increasing pressure to reduce spending. Since the killing of bin Laden, calls have increased to end the Afghanistan mission earlier than the 2014 target date set by NATO.

President Barack Obama has long said the initial withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan would begin in July, and the question now is how large of a first step he will take. Military commanders are preparing recommendations, and Obama is expected to make a decision in coming weeks.

A letter Wednesday from 27 senators to Obama called for revising the Afghanistan mission, starting with a "significant and sizable" reduction in U.S. forces there beginning in July.

"According to our own intelligence officials, al Qaeda no longer has a large presence in Afghanistan, and, as the strike against bin Laden demonstrated, we have the capacity to confront our terrorist enemies with a dramatically smaller footprint," said the letter signed by 24 Democrats, two Republicans and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats. "The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits. It is time for the United States to shift course in Afghanistan."

It urged Obama "to follow through on the pledge you made to the American people to begin the redeployment of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer, and to do so in a manner that is sizable and sustained, and includes combat troops as well as logistical and support forces."

Mullen, however, warned Wednesday of increased problems in the region if the United States backs out of the Afghanistan mission now. The result probably would be a need to return a decade from now to face "a more dangerous situation," he said.

In response to concerns about the commitment to shared goals by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Gates said one problem has been that the United States and its allies have failed to listen when Karzai raised specific complaints. Karzai has gone public about problems involving alliance forces long after he first raised the issues with U.S. and NATO commanders, Gates said.

According to Gates, Karzai has told him he plans to step down when his current term ends in 2014, which also is the year when the U.S.-led mission is supposed to turn over all security responsibility to Afghanistan forces.

Referring to Obama's goal of cutting $400 billion from the Pentagon budget over the next five years, Gates again warned that the wrong kinds of cuts and reduced funding for the military carry additional risk for the nation.

Mullen noted the difficult choices ahead, saying they will be "painful ... but they're absolutely necessary." At the same time, he told the panel that reducing U.S. military forces will necessarily affect the ability to conduct future operations.

"I'm actually pretty comfortable with where we are right now," Mullen said, later adding: "If we have to reduce our force structure, it will have an impact in the long run."

Both Gates and Mullen were talking about next year's defense budget, which includes $553 billion and an additional $117 billion for overseas operations, primarily the war in Afghanistan. Gates, just back from his 12th visit to Afghanistan, said he had seen "impressive progress" there.

Noting that the appearance was his last before the committee, Gates joked, "This time I mean it" in reference to having stayed in his job under Obama despite his known eagerness to retire earlier.

CNN's Tom Cohen and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

CNN

Gates questions NATO resolve as Misrata pounded (Reuters)

MISRATA (Reuters) – The United States accused some NATO allies on Friday of failing to pull their weight in the campaign against Muammar Gaddafi's forces, as the Libyan leader kept up shelling of the rebel-held town of Misrata.

"The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly-armed regime in a sparsely-populated country -- yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a valedictory speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Gates said the alliance, prosecuting an air campaign against Libyan forces, risked "collective military irrelevance" unless European partners deepened their commitment and spending.

"The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling (U.S.) appetite and patience ... to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense," Gates said.

World powers gave mixed signals on how the deadlocked civil war might play out, with Russia trying to mediate reconciliation after Western and Arab nations pledged more than $1.1 billion for the rebels and asked them to plan for post-Gaddafi rule.

When asked about fatigue among NATO partners, Dirk Brengelmann, the organization's assistant secretary general for political affairs, told Reuters in Rabat that despite difficult discussions in recent days, the alliance was still "sober and committed" to Libya.

Gates's exasperation has been echoed by rebels, who control the east of the country and some other areas but do not appear to pose an imminent threat to Gaddafi's rule.

Though NATO warplanes have stepped up their attacks on the capital Tripoli, rebels said the Libyan ruler was pressing offensive operations in several areas, apparently unhindered by the foreign military intervention.

In Misrata, doctors said at least 17 people were killed and 80 wounded in government shelling deep in the besieged port city. Al-Jazeera reported the death toll at 30.

Clashes also broke out in the town of Zlitan, some 40 km (25 miles) west of Misrata.

"Large numbers of troops are surrounding Zlitan from all directions and are threatening its residents with having their women raped by mercenaries if they do not surrender," Ahmed Bani, military spokesman, told Reuters by phone from Benghazi.

He added that 22 rebels had been killed on Thursday after fighting. Zlitan could act as a stepping stone to allow the anti-Gaddafi uprising to spread from Misrata, the biggest rebel outpost in western Libya, to Gaddafi's stronghold in Tripoli.

Accounts from Zlitan could not be independently verified because reporters have not been given access.

Juma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the western mountain town of Zintan, said Gaddafi's forces had also resumed shelling in the region on Friday and criticized NATO for not doing more.

"We are unaware of any air strikes in the Western Mountains in the last four days," he said. "We don't know why they are ignoring our alerts. We told them of clear military targets that post a clear threat to civilians and they still haven't acted."

NO CLEAR WAY FORWARD

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing at the Abu Dhabi meeting of the Libya contact group, said talks were under way with people close to Gaddafi who had raised the "potential" for a transition of power but added: "There is not any clear way forward yet."

Under pressure to come up with plans for a transitional government while still in disarray, the rebels have said the onus is on foreign powers to hasten assistance.

"Our people are dying," rebel Oil and Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni said. "So my message to our friends is that I hope they walk the walk."

Rebels hosted the first foreign leader in their Benghazi stronghold on Thursday, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.

Wade said of Gaddafi, his former African Union ally:

"It is in your own interest ... that you leave power in Libya and never dream of coming back."

World consensus on the need to see the long-time leader gone has been amplified by accounts of his regime's depredations.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week cited evidence linking Gaddafi to a policy of raping opponents, and issuing Viagra-like drugs to troops to encourage such assaults.

Gaddafi describes the rebels as al Qaeda terrorists and says foreign intervention is a front for a grab at the country's oil.

Another visitor to Benghazi was Mikhail Margelov, Russia's Africa envoy, who on Friday said he would travel to Tripoli as soon as NATO provided a corridor through its Libyan no-fly zone.

Russia has voiced misgivings over the foreign intervention and has extensive commercial interests in Libya. It wants to mediate reconciliation between Tripoli and the rebels.

But Margelov said Gaddafi had "lost the moral right to play a role in Libya's political life in the future by bombing his own people."

A memo leaked to the Financial Times suggested U.S. operations in Libya had cost $664 million by mid-May, putting it on course to exceed the original $750 million projection.

Gates's remarks followed two days of NATO meetings at which he said too few nations were bearing the burden in Libya, and singled out five that he urged to do more.

Officials said he asked Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands to fly strike missions in addition to the air operations they currently undertake. He urged Germany and Poland, which are not contributing, to find ways to help, the officials said.

On Friday, Norway said it was cutting the number of its F-16 fighter jets involved in the NATO operation over Libya to four from six, and would end its military contribution from August 1.

(Additional reporting by Peter Graff in Tripoli, Ahmed Tolba and Omar Fahmy in Cairo; Sherine El Madany in Benghazi; Joseph Nasr and Zakia Abdennebi in Rabat, David Alexander in Brussels and Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Writing by Tim Cocks and John Irish; Editing by Andrew Roche)

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Gates presses US allies to do more against Libya (AP)

By ROBERT BURNS and BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press Robert Burns And Bradley Klapper, Associated Press – 1 hr 8 mins ago

BRUSSELS – The Obama administration challenged five key military allies Wednesday to take on a greater share of the NATO-led air campaign against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, illustrating the strains of a three-month intervention in Libya that has no time frame for an exit.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered the pointed message in a goodbye to his counterparts from NATO ahead of his retirement next month, senior American and British officials said. But none of the nations that were challenged pledged to do more.

The pressure on Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Netherlands comes as the alliance continues with intensified airstrikes on Libya's capital and only a day after President Barack Obama played down any suggestions of a rift with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over her nation's lack of contribution to the war effort.

"Secretary Gates was very blunt," said Liam Fox, the defense secretary of Britain, which along with France has led the mission to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi's troops.

Gates said Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands should enhance their limited participation in noncombat operations by joining in strike missions against ground targets, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal NATO deliberations. They said Gates pressed Germany and Poland, the two countries not participating at all militarily, to help in some form.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton likely will restate Gates' argument Thursday when NATO nations and Arab governments participating in the air campaign meet in the United Arab Emirates.

"At each meeting, the international pressure is growing and momentum is building for change in Libya," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Nuland and other officials accompanying Clinton to Abu Dhabi said the time had come to look at the next phase of the Libya situation — what replaces the despotic Gadhafi regime.

That means the U.S. and its partners will start looking at what fate — exile, prosecution or some third option — should befall the leader and his family. They also must consider the parameters for a future cease-fire between rebels and remaining Gadhafi loyalists, and then how to ensure a viable democratic process, according to U.S. officials who said these issues would be the focus of discussions in Abu Dhabi.

Gates, according to officials, said the additional military support wasn't needed to continue air operations for another 90 days, which has been welcomed by all 28 NATO countries. But he said it was a necessary element of fairness in an alliance built on the principle of shared burdens.

Eight NATO members are participating in air strikes in Libya: the U.S., Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Italy. Denmark and Norway in particular are contributing disproportionately, given the size of their militaries, U.S. officials said, and both are feeling the stress on their aircraft and crews as well as a financial strain.

These stresses, combined with the refusal of some alliance members to participate at all in offensive operations, are one reason U.S. officials believe NATO is excessively dependent on the United States for its advanced military power.

Britain echoed the U.S. concerns.

"There are other countries that have assets which we could be using, not necessarily ground attack, but in support and reconnaissance, in air-to-air refueling and so on," Fox said. "Too many are doing too little."

The U.S. and its allies say the upturn in NATO airstrikes is increasingly pinning Gadhafi into a corner, even as troops loyal to the erratic leader of 42 years lashed back with renewed shelling of the western city of Misrata on Wednesday, killing 10 rebel fighters. Yet NATO's strikes on Wednesday — at least four strikes during the day after five before dawn — reinforced the limits to its intervention.

Despite overwhelming aerial power, it has been difficult for the international coalition to end the threat from Gadhafi without overstepping its mission. NATO says it is scrupulously following the U.N. resolution calling for the protection of civilians, and not for the ouster of Gadhafi, who is vowing to fight to the death.

By singling out countries, Gates put longstanding allies on the spot at a time when NATO leaders are emphasizing their solidarity in the Libya mission. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Wednesday the alliance is well on its way to fulfilling the mission and paving the way for a post-Gadhafi period.

But nearly three months after operations started, no one can convincingly say how fast the intervention will be able to end. The opposition holds maybe a third of the inhabitable area of the country, but has struggled to make advances. And as long as Gadhafi's forces remain close to inhabitable areas, the threat to civilians persists.

The U.S. military moved to a secondary role after the initial period of air and naval bombardment that established a no-fly zone over the North African country and opened the door to the NATO-led air campaign.

Obama has declined to put U.S. warplanes back into an offensive role — aside from a relatively small number of planes targeting Libya's air defenses. But a few weeks ago the U.S. provided nine more aerial refueling planes to enable NATO to accelerate its bombing, the U.S. officials said.

Further U.S. escalation would face sharp scrutiny at home. On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee unveiled a resolution calling on Obama to seek congressional consent for military involvement in Libya and prohibiting American ground forces in Libya.

The measures builds on a resolution passed by the House last week rebuking Obama for failing to get authorization from Congress before ordering air strikes in March.

___

Klapper reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mike Corder in Brussels and Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi contributed to this report.

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Gates warns on S. China Sea clashes

Robert Gates shakes hands with China's Defence Minister Liang Guanglie at the Asia Security Summit on Friday in Singapore.Gates speaks to a group of military leaders at an annual meeting in AsiaThe defense secretary also meets with China's defense ministerGates will retire at the end of the month.

Singapore (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday warned that clashes could occur in the South China Sea if nations in the area do not agree on ways to deal with disputes.

"Without rules of the road, without agreed approaches to deal with these problems, then there will be clashes. I think that serves nobody's interest," Gates said at an annual Asia security meeting hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Gates statement comes amid tensions as China stakes claims on sovereignty in the South China Sea and other nations disputes these claims.

Despite an economic downturn and budget cuts, the United States will keep its commitments and "robust military engagement" in Asia, Gates said.

Gates told the audience of defense ministers and military leaders that there has been significant growth in U.S. engagement in Asia in recent years, "even at a time of economic distress at home and two major military campaigns ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The U.S. record in Asia shows, "irrespective of the tough times the U.S. faces today, or the tough choices we confront in the years to come, that America's interests as a Pacific nation -- as a country that conducts much of its trade in the region -- will endure," Gates said.

Gates - who met with China's Defense Minister Gen. Lian Guanglie on Friday -- said the U.S was working with China "to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship."

He called military-to-military ties with China "a priority" and said he'd seen steady improvement in recent months.

Continued cooperation and regional military exercises will continue to play a vital role in regional stability, Gates said in his speech.

And while continuing to modernize base agreements with allies, Gates said, "We've taken a number of steps toward establishing a defense posture across the Asia Pacific that is more geographically distributed, operationally resilient and politically sustainable."

Gates talked about changes he has seen during his tenure as defense secretary.

"One of the most striking -- and surprising -- changes I've observed during my travels to Asia is the widespread desire across the region for stronger military-to-military relationships with the United States -- much more so than during my last time in government 20 years ago," Gates said.

Gates retires at the end of the month.

CNN

Gates: Raid humiliating for Pakistanis

The U.S. raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed him on May 1."If I were in Pakistani shoes, I would say I've already paid a price," Gates saysHe and Mullen say there is no sign Pakistan's senior leaders knew of bin Laden's compoundBoth express concern that so many details of the raid have been made public

Washington (CNN) -- The ability of the United States to enter Pakistan, kill Osama bin Laden and leave without detection was a humiliation to Pakistanis, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Wednesday.

But Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, insisted there is no evidence Pakistani's senior leadership knew of the bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

"If I were in Pakistani shoes, I would say I've already paid a price. I've been humiliated. I've been shown that the Americans can come in here and do this with impunity," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon, responding to a question about what should be done if someone in Pakistan's government did know. "I think we have to recognize that they see a cost in that and a price that has been paid."

The 1600 Report: Terror fight goes on

Mullen told reporters the incident was a "humbling experience" for the Pakistanis that has led to "internal soul-searching."

"They've been through a lot tied to this, and their image has been tarnished. And they care, as we all do, and they care a lot about that. They're a very proud military," Mullen said.

Both he and Gates said there is nothing to suggest senior Pakistani leadership knew the al Qaeda leader was in their midst. The United States does suspect some in the government, military or intelligence knew, but for now that is just a U.S. suspicion. They said they have found no evidence to support it.

Militants attack security post in Pakistan

"I mean, the supposition is somebody," Gates said. "We don't know whether it was, you know, retired people, whether it was low-level. Pure supposition on our part. It's hard to go to them with an accusation when we have no proof that anybody knew."

Mullen said the relationship between the two countries faces challenges going forward but its continuance is crucial for the United States.

"I think it would be a really significantly negative outcome if the relationship got broken," Mullen said.

Gates said he is frustrated by the Pakistani reluctance to go after al Qaeda and Taliban elements in northwest Pakistan. The raid on bin Laden's compound has opened an opportunity to address that issue again but the Pakistanis have warned the United States that another such covert raid would not be tolerated.

Possible power struggle in al Qaeda

"The Pakistanis, over the last couple of weeks, have expressed the view that they are willing to go after some of these people and that we should not repeat the bin Laden operation, because they will undertake this themselves," Gates said.

The secretary and the chairman also expressed great concern about all the details on the raid that have been made public.

Gates noted an agreement had been reached in the government not to discuss "operational details" but "that lasted about 15 hours."

Opinion: Pakistanis want better future, like us

"We want to retain the capability to carry out these kinds of operations in the future. And when so much detail is available, it makes that both more difficult and riskier," he told reporters.

Mullen warned the impact of all the leaks to the media is "close to jeopardizing this precious capability that we have."

His criticism was not aimed only at those inside the government who are talking to the press without authorization. In addition, he said, "we've had far too many retired members who've spoken up."

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Bill Gates backed Microsoft's takeover of Skype (Digital Trends)

When it was announced last week that Microsoft had bought Internet phone company Skype for a whacking $8.5 billion, it caused many in the tech industry to carefully place their cup of coffee on their desk, furrow their brow slightly and say, “Eh?”

The news media was filled with stories trying to work out precisely why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was so excited about the takeover of a company that lost $7 million last year and charges nothing for most of its services.

At the announcement of the purchase, Ballmer spoke enthusiastically about how the companies promised “universal, next-generation communications…..[that will] empower [consumers] to communicate in new and interesting ways.” And now, just as people are pondering over exactly what the “new and interesting ways” might be, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has popped up to lend some support to Ballmer.

According to an interview with the BBC to be aired on Wednesday, Gates said that he himself advocated the Skype purchase. Talking to the BBC’s Stephen Sackur on his Hardtalk one-on-one interview show, Gates said, “I was a strong proponent at the board level for the deal being done. I think it’s a great, great deal for Skype. I think it’s a great deal for Microsoft.”

Looking ahead, Gates explained that the takeover was a strategic decision, not focussed on Skype’s immediate financial situation. He said, “The idea of video conferencing is going to get so much better than it is today.” He added: “It’ll be fascinating to see how the brilliant ideas out of Microsoft research, coming together with Skype, what they can make of that.”

Skype was founded in 2003 and enables its 663 million users to make video and voice calls online. Microsoft’s purchase of the company was its biggest ever acquisition.

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Gates: 'Ultimate insider' changed the Pentagon like no other

Obama shuffles national security staffvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('politics/2011/04/28/bts.obama.security.team.shuffle.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('politics/2011/04/28/bts.obama.security.team.shuffle.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}Gates once said it was "inconceivable" that he would stay on after Bush administrationAs secretary of defense, Gates has shaken up Pentagon and trimmed its budgetVeteran journalist says the Pentagon "calmed down" with Gates at the helmCandy Crowley talks to two former Washington insiders with deep experience in the intelligence game : former Rep. Jane Harman and Stephen Hadley, former Bush administration national security adviser, about how a Leon Panetta-led Pentagon will run and what kind of CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus will be, on CNN's "State of the Union" at 9 a.m. and noon ET.

Washington (CNN) -- For a man who considered himself "the ultimate insider" in Washington, Robert Gates made no secret of his desire to become an outsider.

Long before the 2008 election, Gates was asked whether he would consider serving as secretary of defense beyond the end of President George W. Bush's second term.

"The circumstances under which I would do that are inconceivable to me," Gates replied in an April 2008 Pentagon news briefing.

Gates even had a "countdown clock" that ticked down the days until the end of the Bush administration, when he could retire. But within weeks of President Obama's election, the clock became obsolete.

"I've thrown away the clock because it was absolutely useless," Gates said in December 2008.

Getting rid of things and people who didn't perform as planned became a hallmark of Gates' time in the Department of Defense.

Shortly after replacing Donald Rumsfeld in the Pentagon's E-Ring office suite, Gates was confronted with a scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the military hospital in Washington in which wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are treated.

When a Washington Post investigation unearthed months of substandard care at Walter Reed, the man in charge of the hospital was fired, and the secretary of the Army resigned.

"I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation," Gates said when announcing Secretary Francis Harvey's resignation. "Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems."

Harvey wouldn't be the last top Defense official to find himself out of work under Gates.

In June 2007, just months after Harvey left, Gates announced that he would not recommend Gen. Peter Pace for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first not to get a second term since the Kennedy administration.

"There was the very real prospect the process would be quite contentious," Gates said of Pace's Senate confirmation hearings. "I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform, and Gen. Pace himself would not be well-served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Pink slips flew again a year later in the upper echelons of the Air Force after two incidents displayed problems involving the handling of nuclear weapons and equipment. Gates said the incidents, including one in which a B-52 bomber flew across the country without anyone on board knowing that six of the missiles on board were nuclear-tipped, showed that the "focus of the Air Force leadership has drifted."

The changes Gates made apparently didn't leave a sense of bitterness among those still in leadership positions at the Pentagon.

"He was quite tough and fired a lot of people," said Tom Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has covered the Pentagon for years. But "look at how the place calmed down, compared to when (Donald) Rumsfeld was there. The Iraq war was run better; the generals felt like they had adult leadership."

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, agrees: "He maintained a spirit and tone of competence and professionalism and collegiality and yet also accountability."

During the early months of his tenure, Gates focused on implementing the "troop surge" in Iraq, a strategy change that was under consideration before he became secretary. It called for increasing the number of troops in Iraq and focusing their efforts in Baghdad. The goal was to have Iraqi troops take the lead in military matters and allow political progress to proceed by isolating extremists.

Although many on both sides of the political spectrum opposed the idea of 20,000 more American troops in Iraq, by 2008, violence declined, and Gates began overseeing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, an endeavor that continues.

After working his way up from an entry-level job at the Central Intelligence Agency to the director's chair, Gates retired and laid out his career in the intelligence community in his autobiography "From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War."

Now he was serving a sixth president and overseeing two hot wars. But he wasn't looking forward to staying on for a seventh. He frequently joked about getting away from the capital.

"It's a pleasure to be back here at West Point, although as I often say, 'It's always a pleasure to be away from Washington, D.C.,' " Gates told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy.

But after Obama won the 2008 election, he reached out to Gates in a secret meeting at a fire station at Reagan National Airport in Washington. Gates said he was impressed by what Obama said and agreed to stay on. Gates, a Republican, became the first secretary of defense to serve in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

His first major initiative was to oversee changes in the war in Afghanistan, even as the troop surge in Iraq was still winding down. Less than two weeks after his inauguration, Obama talked with Gates about the military's plans to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Gates said a few days later that the goal of those troops was "to bring greater security in places like Helmand (province) by being a permanent presence there -- by being a long-term presence rather than flying out by helicopter for a day's operations or a couple of days' operations and then flying back to their base."

The increase in troops has led to a spike in U.S. troop deaths in the almost-10-year-old war. But by June, the Obama administration will begin withdrawing troops from the country, putting security issues more into the hands of Afghan security forces.

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan at the time of the surge was Gen. David D. McKiernan, who had been asking for more troops. But even before all those troops arrived, McKiernan was out.

"We have not been able to fully resource our military effort in Afghanistan in recent years, " Gates said when he announced in May 2009 that McKiernan would be replaced. "I believe, resources or no, that our mission there requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders. "

McKiernan was replaced by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former chief of special operations, who had already served in Afghanistan.

But changes in personnel were not Gates' only priority that winter. His fiscal year 2010 budget request, his first under Obama, showed that he could be just as cold in slashing the budget as he was in terminating careers.

In the request, Gates cut spending on F-22 fighter jets, the Army's Future Combat System and the Navy's next generation of destroyers. He ended plans to build a new fleet of presidential helicopters and ended purchases of C-17 cargo jets. The cuts, while criticized by Congress, lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for the department, according to the Pentagon.

A year later, Gates was still fighting to trim the defense budget while the country dealt with two wars and a new financial crisis.

"Given America's difficult economic circumstances and perilous fiscal condition, military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny," he said in Abilene, Kansas. "The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time."

Critics say Gates' budget priorities are misguided. James Carafano, who directs the Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, says Gates has mortgaged the future of the country's defense.

"Gates took a military that's stretched and gutted its future. The U.S. will pay the price for that, and it will be his legacy far more than stage-managing Iraq and Afghanistan."

As he prepares to pack up his office, including the pictures of his home in Washington state to which he has so longed to return, Gates has found himself overseeing U.S. involvement in a third conflict in Libya.

Just in February, Gates was back at West Point, and he told the cadets, "In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as Gen. (Douglas) MacArthur so delicately put it."

But just weeks later, the Navy and Air Force were heavily involved in enforcing a United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya. Although seeming to follow Gates' advice, Obama issued a strict "no-boots-on-the-ground" rule for U.S. troops there. And American involvement in Libya has been scaled back and turned over to international partners.

Gates is still cutting programs and making some in Congress angry.

In April, the department announced that it was ending the program to develop an alternative engine for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Supporters said the program created 1,000 jobs, but Gates has called the program -- estimated to cost $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion -- unjustified and excessive.

Such cuts are one reason why Carafano says history will not look kindly on Gates' tenure as secretary of defense.

But both Ricks and O'Hanlon rate Gates as among the best.

"He helped turn around Iraq; he did a good job with Afghanistan; he brought stability at a turbulent time," O'Hanlon said.

As for Gates himself, when asked about his legacy during what will likely be his last visit to the troops in Iraq, he said that although his agenda was no longer just Iraq, that's what he would judged on.

"And I'll let people judge for themselves."

CNN

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Gates: 'Ultimate insider' changed the Pentagon like no other

Obama shuffles national security staffvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('politics/2011/04/28/bts.obama.security.team.shuffle.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('politics/2011/04/28/bts.obama.security.team.shuffle.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}Gates once said it was "inconceivable" that he would stay on after Bush administrationAs secretary of defense, Gates has shaken up Pentagon and trimmed its budgetVeteran journalist says the Pentagon "calmed down" with Gates at the helmCandy Crowley talks to two former Washington insiders with deep experience in the intelligence game : former Rep. Jane Harman and Stephen Hadley, former Bush administration national security adviser, about how a Leon Panetta-led Pentagon will run and what kind of CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus will be, on CNN's "State of the Union" at 9 a.m. and noon ET.

Washington (CNN) -- For a man who considered himself "the ultimate insider" in Washington, Robert Gates made no secret of his desire to become an outsider.

Long before the 2008 election, Gates was asked whether he would consider serving as secretary of defense beyond the end of President George W. Bush's second term.

"The circumstances under which I would do that are inconceivable to me," Gates replied in an April 2008 Pentagon news briefing.

Gates even had a "countdown clock" that ticked down the days until the end of the Bush administration, when he could retire. But within weeks of President Obama's election, the clock became obsolete.

"I've thrown away the clock because it was absolutely useless," Gates said in December 2008.

Getting rid of things and people who didn't perform as planned became a hallmark of Gates' time in the Department of Defense.

Shortly after replacing Donald Rumsfeld in the Pentagon's E-Ring office suite, Gates was confronted with a scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the military hospital in Washington in which wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are treated.

When a Washington Post investigation unearthed months of substandard care at Walter Reed, the man in charge of the hospital was fired, and the secretary of the Army resigned.

"I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation," Gates said when announcing Secretary Francis Harvey's resignation. "Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems."

Harvey wouldn't be the last top Defense official to find himself out of work under Gates.

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In June 2007, just months after Harvey left, Gates announced that he would not recommend Gen. Peter Pace for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first not to get a second term since the Kennedy administration.

"There was the very real prospect the process would be quite contentious," Gates said of Pace's Senate confirmation hearings. "I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform, and Gen. Pace himself would not be well-served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Pink slips flew again a year later in the upper echelons of the Air Force after two incidents displayed problems involving the handling of nuclear weapons and equipment. Gates said the incidents, including one in which a B-52 bomber flew across the country without anyone on board knowing that six of the missiles on board were nuclear-tipped, showed that the "focus of the Air Force leadership has drifted."

The changes Gates made apparently didn't leave a sense of bitterness among those still in leadership positions at the Pentagon.

"He was quite tough and fired a lot of people," said Tom Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has covered the Pentagon for years. But "look at how the place calmed down, compared to when (Donald) Rumsfeld was there. The Iraq war was run better; the generals felt like they had adult leadership."

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, agrees: "He maintained a spirit and tone of competence and professionalism and collegiality and yet also accountability."

During the early months of his tenure, Gates focused on implementing the "troop surge" in Iraq, a strategy change that was under consideration before he became secretary. It called for increasing the number of troops in Iraq and focusing their efforts in Baghdad. The goal was to have Iraqi troops take the lead in military matters and allow political progress to proceed by isolating extremists.

Although many on both sides of the political spectrum opposed the idea of 20,000 more American troops in Iraq, by 2008, violence declined, and Gates began overseeing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, an endeavor that continues.

After working his way up from an entry-level job at the Central Intelligence Agency to the director's chair, Gates retired and laid out his career in the intelligence community in his autobiography "From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War."

Now he was serving a sixth president and overseeing two hot wars. But he wasn't looking forward to staying on for a seventh. He frequently joked about getting away from the capital.

"It's a pleasure to be back here at West Point, although as I often say, 'It's always a pleasure to be away from Washington, D.C.,' " Gates told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy.

But after Obama won the 2008 election, he reached out to Gates in a secret meeting at a fire station at Reagan National Airport in Washington. Gates said he was impressed by what Obama said and agreed to stay on. Gates, a Republican, became the first secretary of defense to serve in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

His first major initiative was to oversee changes in the war in Afghanistan, even as the troop surge in Iraq was still winding down. Less than two weeks after his inauguration, Obama talked with Gates about the military's plans to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Gates said a few days later that the goal of those troops was "to bring greater security in places like Helmand (province) by being a permanent presence there -- by being a long-term presence rather than flying out by helicopter for a day's operations or a couple of days' operations and then flying back to their base."

The increase in troops has led to a spike in U.S. troop deaths in the almost-10-year-old war. But by June, the Obama administration will begin withdrawing troops from the country, putting security issues more into the hands of Afghan security forces.

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan at the time of the surge was Gen. David D. McKiernan, who had been asking for more troops. But even before all those troops arrived, McKiernan was out.

"We have not been able to fully resource our military effort in Afghanistan in recent years, " Gates said when he announced in May 2009 that McKiernan would be replaced. "I believe, resources or no, that our mission there requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders. "

McKiernan was replaced by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former chief of special operations, who had already served in Afghanistan.

But changes in personnel were not Gates' only priority that winter. His fiscal year 2010 budget request, his first under Obama, showed that he could be just as cold in slashing the budget as he was in terminating careers.

In the request, Gates cut spending on F-22 fighter jets, the Army's Future Combat System and the Navy's next generation of destroyers. He ended plans to build a new fleet of presidential helicopters and ended purchases of C-17 cargo jets. The cuts, while criticized by Congress, lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for the department, according to the Pentagon.

A year later, Gates was still fighting to trim the defense budget while the country dealt with two wars and a new financial crisis.

"Given America's difficult economic circumstances and perilous fiscal condition, military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny," he said in Abilene, Kansas. "The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time."

Critics say Gates' budget priorities are misguided. James Carafano, who directs the Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, says Gates has mortgaged the future of the country's defense.

"Gates took a military that's stretched and gutted its future. The U.S. will pay the price for that, and it will be his legacy far more than stage-managing Iraq and Afghanistan."

As he prepares to pack up his office, including the pictures of his home in Washington state to which he has so longed to return, Gates has found himself overseeing U.S. involvement in a third conflict in Libya.

Just in February, Gates was back at West Point, and he told the cadets, "In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as Gen. (Douglas) MacArthur so delicately put it."

But just weeks later, the Navy and Air Force were heavily involved in enforcing a United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya. Although seeming to follow Gates' advice, Obama issued a strict "no-boots-on-the-ground" rule for U.S. troops there. And American involvement in Libya has been scaled back and turned over to international partners.

Gates is still cutting programs and making some in Congress angry.

In April, the department announced that it was ending the program to develop an alternative engine for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Supporters said the program created 1,000 jobs, but Gates has called the program -- estimated to cost $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion -- unjustified and excessive.

Such cuts are one reason why Carafano says history will not look kindly on Gates' tenure as secretary of defense.

But both Ricks and O'Hanlon rate Gates as among the best.

"He helped turn around Iraq; he did a good job with Afghanistan; he brought stability at a turbulent time," O'Hanlon said.

As for Gates himself, when asked about his legacy during what will likely be his last visit to the troops in Iraq, he said that although his agenda was no longer just Iraq, that's what he would judged on.

"And I'll let people judge for themselves."

CNN

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8 famous Harvard dropouts not named Gates or Zuckerberg

Matt Damon is one of the more famous Harvard dropouts. STORY HIGHLIGHTSMatt Damon says he was in and out of Harvard at the beginning of his film careerPoet Robert Frost and William Randolph Hearst dropped out of HarvardPete Seeger cites an interest in left-wing politics for letting his grades slip at HarvardElizabeth Shue dropped out, but returned to complete her degreeRELATED TOPICSHarvard UniversityMusic StarsCulture and Lifestyle (Mental Floss) -- Most people are familiar with the stories of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, who achieved great success as the founders of Microsoft and Facebook, respectively, after dropping out of Harvard.

Here are eight other former Harvard students who made out just fine without earning their degrees.

1. Robert Frost

Frost, a San Francisco native who had previously dropped out of Dartmouth after only two months, was accepted for admission at Harvard in the fall of 1897 and studied liberal arts in Cambridge.

Two years later, Frost, who had married and become a father just prior to enrolling at Harvard, left school to support his growing family.

"They could not make a student of me here, but they gave it their best," Frost later said. Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry in his lifetime and received an honorary degree from Harvard in 1937.

2. Matt Damon

The future Hollywood star entered Harvard in 1988 and took time off during the second semester of his sophomore year to act in "Rising Son," a made-for-TV movie. Damon stepped out during his junior and senior years as well, and never accrued enough credits to graduate.

"What was happening is that I would keep coming back, and I would almost get done with the semester and then I would be yanked out," Damon recalled in an interview with the Harvard Crimson.

It's fitting, then, that Damon's big break was "Good Will Hunting," the 1997 film he co-wrote and starred in with his friend Ben Affleck. In one scene, Damon's character tells a Harvard student, "You drop $150,000 on an education that you could have gotten for $1.50 on late charges at the public library."

Damon appeared on "Ellen" earlier this month and said he doesn't have any plans to go back and finish his degree.

"I feel like I got everything I needed to get from that experience," he said.

3. Edwin H. Land

After graduating with honors from the Norwich Academy in Connecticut, Land enrolled at Harvard in 1926. The son of a scrap metal yard owner, Land studied chemistry as a freshman and launched experiments on ways to polarize light.

Land dropped out of Harvard to focus full-time on his research, which he conducted at the New York Public Library, before returning to Cambridge to establish the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories with his former Harvard physics instructor in 1932.

In 1937, Land co-founded the Polaroid Corporation, which would introduce the first instant camera in 1947.

Land said the idea was inspired by his then-3-year-old daughter, who asked why she couldn't immediately see a photograph he took of her on a family vacation. Polaroid made another breakthrough in 1963 with the introduction of instant color photography.

By the time of his death in 1991, Land, who was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in 1957 and had a street in Cambridge named after him, owned more than 500 patents, second only to Thomas Edison. Among his other inventions were instant X-rays, Polaroid sunglasses, and glare-reducing goggles for dogs.

Mental Floss: He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died

4. William Randolph Hearst

Hearst, the son of millionaire mining engineer George Hearst, enrolled at Harvard in 1885 and acted as the first business manager of the Harvard Lampoon, the school's humor publication.

It didn't take long for Hearst, who kept a pet alligator named Champagne Charlie in his room, to establish a reputation as a trouble-maker.

According to legend, the future newspaper magnate once bought a jackass and snuck the animal into a professor's room, leaving a card around its neck with the note, "Now there are two of you."

Hearst survived that stunt, but was later expelled for sending his professors chamber pots with their names inscribed on the bottom. After leaving Harvard, Hearst launched his successful career by taking control of one of his father's newspapers, the San Francisco Examiner.

5. James B. Connolly

Connolly, who was admitted to Harvard in 1895 despite never graduating high school, left Cambridge to participate in the first Olympic Games one year later.

Connolly reportedly requested a leave of absence from the Harvard dean, but it was denied as a result of his low academic standing.

Harvard informed Connolly that he would have to reapply for admission upon his return from Athens, but he left anyway, and became the first modern Olympic champion with a win in the triple jump.

Connolly never returned to Harvard to finish his degree, but he was awarded an honorary Harvard sweater in 1948.

Mental Floss: The Post-Olympic Careers of 16 Medal Winners

6. Pete Seeger

As Seeger explains it, the folk singer and activist had his financial aid rescinded after his sophomore year because he got too interested in left-wing politics and let his grades slip.

Seeger, who would've graduated in 1940, achieved fame after dropping out of Harvard as a member of The Weavers, whose rendition of Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene" topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Seeger doesn't seem to harbor any ill will toward the school.

As the Harvard Crimson reported, he wrote the following in his alumni yearbook: "I remember thinking when 1940 came along that I was glad I had spent the two years there, that I had learned certain invaluable things, but also that I had learned in two years that I had been away from certain things that Harvard wouldn't have been able to teach."

7. R. Buckminster Fuller

The inventor, philosopher, and futurist was the fifth generation of his family to enroll at Harvard and the first not to graduate. Fuller wasn't accepted into any of Harvard's social clubs, so he sought companionship elsewhere and regularly skipped classes to attend Broadway shows.

During one such trip to New York City, Fuller treated actress Marilyn Miller and her entire chorus to dinner, blowing all of his tuition money for that year in the process. Harvard dismissed Fuller, who went to work as a factory worker in Quebec before his mother convinced him to reapply.

Fuller was readmitted and earned several academic honors, but eventually became bored and left Harvard for good. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Fuller embarked on the first of many commercial failures, including the prefabricated Dymaxion House, before achieving fortune and fame in 1947 with the invention of the geodesic dome.

Fuller returned to Harvard in 1961 to accept the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry.

8. Bonnie Raitt

Raitt enrolled at Radcliffe College, Harvard's then-coordinate college, in 1967. The daughter of a Broadway musical performer, Raitt planned to major in African studies and travel to Tanzania to help "undo the damage that Western colonialism had done."

Those dreams were sidetracked when Raitt, a skilled guitar player, met blues promoter Dick Waterman in Cambridge. Waterman introduced Raitt to established performers such as Son House and Fred McDowell.

Though Raitt had every intention of graduating, she took a semester off during her sophomore year to explore the possibility of a musical career with Waterman and became a star. Raitt signed a recording deal with Warner Bros. in 1970 and released her debut album in 1971.

Raitt won four Grammy awards in 1990 and received Harvard's third Arts Medal in 1997. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Mental Floss: 15 Celebrities Who Started as Teachers

9. Elisabeth Shue

At least one famous Harvard dropout eventually decided to return to school. Shue, who transferred to Harvard from Wellesley College, dropped out of school one semester short of receiving her political science degree in 1985 to pursue an acting career.

Fifteen years later, she returned to Cambridge to complete her degree.

"My brain was starting to dry up," Shue told Movieline magazine. "In Hollywood, you're fortunate if you get a role where your brain is engaged, but those experiences are rare. I felt like I needed to do something with my life. I wanted to feel more connected to the world."

At the time, Shue said she would eventually like to teach and make documentaries. Best known for her Oscar-nominated role in "Leaving Las Vegas," one of Shue's most recent roles was as Sheriff Julie Forester in "Piranha 3D."

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