Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the Administration’s new plan for Iraq on the road, holding discussions about both Iraq and Afghanistan with British officials, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, in London on Jan. 14. Gates then traveled to Belgium on Jan. 15 to meet with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to talk primarily about Afghanistan. Gates called success for the alliance’s Afghan mission a “top priority.” He also planned to visit Afghanistan.
Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, the director of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome program, warned that without the Defense Department’s $350 billion reconciliation request, the homeland missile defense effort is in dire straits.