Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
NBC; ABC; FNC; PBS
April 21, 2008 NBC Nightly News, 7:00 PM
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates took an unusual step today, criticizing a branch of the Armed Forces for not providing enough help for American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates said trying to get the Air Force to change old habits is, quote, “like pulling teeth.” He specifically mentioned the need for unmanned aircraft, saying the Air Force hasn’t moved fast enough to meet that need. He said in the Air Force fighter pilot culture, not enough people want to pilot unmanned drones.
World News With Charles Gibson (ABC), 6:30 PM
CHARLES GIBSON: Some surprising and unusually harsh criticism from the military today from the man who runs the military. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants more unmanned aircraft sent into Iraq and Afghanistan for the war on terror, but the military is, in his words, “stuck in the old ways of doing business.” Getting change in the military, he said, has been like pulling teeth.
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: It is not every day that the nation’s top defense official goes public with criticism of the military. But that is exactly what Defense Secretary Gates did today in addressing U.S. Air Force officers. Less than a week after setting up a taskforce to find new ways of dealing with the enemy, Gates dropped some bombs on Air Force brass for being too slow to embrace that concept.
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has details.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Shock and Awe brought the Air Force glory five years ago at the beginning of the Iraq war, but today’s Iraqi insurgents weren’t shocked or awed, it appears. And now the U.S. military finds itself adapting its doctrine to a new enemy – the insurgent, a likely foe for decades to come.
Today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a speech at Maxwell Air Base, chastised members of the Air Force and other services. Quote, “My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield. I’ve been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theater. Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it’s been like pulling teeth.”
Gates was referring to deploying more unmanned aerial systems such as the Air Force’s Predator drones, the eyes in the sky for the military since 9/11 for tracking al Qaeda leaders and insurgents. He recalled how, as head of the CIA in 1992, he couldn’t convince the Air Force to co-fund a vehicle without a pilot. Today, there are 5,000 unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance vehicles, a 25-fold increase since 9/11 by Gates’ own estimates.
While we’ve doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough, Gates told the air officers.
MAJ. GEN. ROBERT SCALES (RET.) [Fox News Military Analyst]: Frankly, there is isn’t anywhere near the number of unmanned drones necessary to fulfill this mission to the degree that the ground commanders think that the mission should be done.
GRIFFIN: The Air Force says such criticism is unfair. Of the 110 Predators it has, 74 are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan – 88 percent of the force. The Pentagon asked the Air Force to field 21 combat air patrol teams, each with about four to five Predators, to CENTCOM by 2010. The Air Force is already two years ahead of schedule.
BRIG. GEN. BLAIR HANSEN [U.S. Air Force]: We’re definitely serious about not only pushing what we have today, but being able six months from now to continue to grow that while we strengthen the capability to, in fact, be engaged as a partner.
GRIFFIN: Gates wants the Air Force to train drone teams faster. Right now, there simply aren’t enough pilots. Unlike the Army, the Air Force insists on using trained fighter pilots, arguing that even though the pilots sit thousands of miles away, this is not a video game. At the Pentagon, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.
Jim Lehrer Newshour (PBS), 7:00 PM
JUDY WOODRUFF: Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the Air Force today over its efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He acknowledged its overall contributions so far, but he complained the service has been slow to put more unmanned surveillance aircraft in the region. Gates spoke at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES: (From tape.) My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield. I’ve been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theater. Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it’s been like pulling teeth.
WOODRUFF: Later, a Pentagon spokesman said the criticism was also aimed at the entire military.
April 21, 2008 NBC Nightly News, 7:00 PM
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates took an unusual step today, criticizing a branch of the Armed Forces for not providing enough help for American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates said trying to get the Air Force to change old habits is, quote, “like pulling teeth.” He specifically mentioned the need for unmanned aircraft, saying the Air Force hasn’t moved fast enough to meet that need. He said in the Air Force fighter pilot culture, not enough people want to pilot unmanned drones.
World News With Charles Gibson (ABC), 6:30 PM
CHARLES GIBSON: Some surprising and unusually harsh criticism from the military today from the man who runs the military. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants more unmanned aircraft sent into Iraq and Afghanistan for the war on terror, but the military is, in his words, “stuck in the old ways of doing business.” Getting change in the military, he said, has been like pulling teeth.
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: It is not every day that the nation’s top defense official goes public with criticism of the military. But that is exactly what Defense Secretary Gates did today in addressing U.S. Air Force officers. Less than a week after setting up a taskforce to find new ways of dealing with the enemy, Gates dropped some bombs on Air Force brass for being too slow to embrace that concept.
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has details.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Shock and Awe brought the Air Force glory five years ago at the beginning of the Iraq war, but today’s Iraqi insurgents weren’t shocked or awed, it appears. And now the U.S. military finds itself adapting its doctrine to a new enemy – the insurgent, a likely foe for decades to come.
Today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a speech at Maxwell Air Base, chastised members of the Air Force and other services. Quote, “My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield. I’ve been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theater. Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it’s been like pulling teeth.”
Gates was referring to deploying more unmanned aerial systems such as the Air Force’s Predator drones, the eyes in the sky for the military since 9/11 for tracking al Qaeda leaders and insurgents. He recalled how, as head of the CIA in 1992, he couldn’t convince the Air Force to co-fund a vehicle without a pilot. Today, there are 5,000 unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance vehicles, a 25-fold increase since 9/11 by Gates’ own estimates.
While we’ve doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough, Gates told the air officers.
MAJ. GEN. ROBERT SCALES (RET.) [Fox News Military Analyst]: Frankly, there is isn’t anywhere near the number of unmanned drones necessary to fulfill this mission to the degree that the ground commanders think that the mission should be done.
GRIFFIN: The Air Force says such criticism is unfair. Of the 110 Predators it has, 74 are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan – 88 percent of the force. The Pentagon asked the Air Force to field 21 combat air patrol teams, each with about four to five Predators, to CENTCOM by 2010. The Air Force is already two years ahead of schedule.
BRIG. GEN. BLAIR HANSEN [U.S. Air Force]: We’re definitely serious about not only pushing what we have today, but being able six months from now to continue to grow that while we strengthen the capability to, in fact, be engaged as a partner.
GRIFFIN: Gates wants the Air Force to train drone teams faster. Right now, there simply aren’t enough pilots. Unlike the Army, the Air Force insists on using trained fighter pilots, arguing that even though the pilots sit thousands of miles away, this is not a video game. At the Pentagon, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.
Jim Lehrer Newshour (PBS), 7:00 PM
JUDY WOODRUFF: Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the Air Force today over its efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He acknowledged its overall contributions so far, but he complained the service has been slow to put more unmanned surveillance aircraft in the region. Gates spoke at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES: (From tape.) My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield. I’ve been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theater. Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it’s been like pulling teeth.
WOODRUFF: Later, a Pentagon spokesman said the criticism was also aimed at the entire military.