Barack Obama, Robert Gates | featured news

President Obama pulled another military surprise today during Defense Secretary Robert Gates' farewell ceremony.

With the departure of Robert Gates at the Pentagon, the pending shakeup of the national security team would move Gen. David Petraeus to the CIA. Lt. Gen. John Allen would then replace Petraeus, officials say. President Obama is expected to name CIA Director Leon Panetta as his new Defense secretary and is expected to make David Petraeus, the general now commanding troops in Afghanistan, head of the CIA, according to U.S.

Robert Gates The Secretary of Defense will continue in that position in the Obama administration for at least another year, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday. "Secretary Gates met with the president just before Christmas and gave him a commitment to stay on the job for at least another year," Geoff Morrell, deputy assistant secretary of defense and Pentagon press secretary, told CNN. Gates served as Secretary of Defense in the last two years of the Bush administration and stayed on in the post when President Obama took office.

As Obama's team works on its plans, McChrystal and other advisors are asked to keep the process more private. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that President Obama's advisors should keep their guidance private, in effect admonishing the top commander in Afghanistan for publicly advocating an approach requiring more troops even as the White House reassesses its strategy.

The Obama administration expects "significant new commitments" from allies on troops or civilian assistance for Afghanistan before an April summit, U.S.

CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 18 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

If the unthinkable happens on Inauguration Day, Robert Gates, the defense secretary, will be available to assume the reigns of government.