United States and Canada

The West is still waiting for its Libya gamble to pay off

By Doyle MacManus, the Los Angeles Times

From Doyle MacManus, the Los Angeles Times:  Hope isn’t a strategy. But it was a major part of NATO’s decision to launch an air war against Libya’s Moammar Kadafi almost three months ago.

Robert Gates’ Harsh Words to NATO

Kurt Volker, Atlantic Council Senior Advisor, Managing Director at Johns Hopkins University – SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations, and former US Ambassador to NATO, appeared on Fox News

Talking Truth to NATO

By the Editors of the New York Times

From the Editors of the New York Times:  Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke bluntly to America’s NATO allies on Friday. They needed to hear it.

U.S. and NATO: If We Don’t Shoulder the Burden, Nobody Will

By Max Boot, Commentary

From Max Boot, Commentary:  Bob Gates is leaving the Defense Department with a bang—or at least a blast—rather than a whimper.

Libya Operation costing the US about $2 million per day

By Jeremy Lemer and Christine Spolar, the Financial Times

From Jeremy Lemer and Christine Spolar, the Financial Times:  US military operations in Libya are on course to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the Pentagon estimated, according to figures obtained by the Financial Times.

Solidarity: On the Front Line of Freedom’s Defense

By Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist:  Freedom will only flower if North Americans and Europeans together tend the lighthouse of hope so many millions want to believe in.

Text of Speech by Robert Gates on the Future of NATO

By Robert Gates, Department of Defense

From the U.S. Department of Defense:  “Reflections on the status and future of the transatlantic alliance” as delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Brussels, Belgium, Friday, June 10, 2011.

Gates praises some allies with limited resources for making smart defense choices

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

From Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service:  “I am the latest in a string of U.S. defense secretaries who have urged allies privately and publicly, often with exasperation, to meet agreed-upon NATO benchmarks for defense spending,” Gates said.