How It's Used

“A Pentagon official said Gates is ‘very concerned about all of our energy’ being devoted to Iraq, an ‘overcommitment that is consuming and distracting us from everything else. On the other hand, he knows there can't be another Saigon. There's this balance...'

“Another new arrival in the West Wing set up a rapid-response PR unit hard-wired into Petraeus's shop. Ed Gillespie, the new presidential counselor, organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out ways of selling the surge.”

—Peter Baker, Karen DeYoung, Thomas E. Ricks, Ann Scott Tyson, Joby Warrick, and Robin Wright, “Among Top Officials, ‘Surge’ Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting,” The Washington Post, September 9, 2007, p. A01.

“Senate Republicans are pushing for a vote on a $631 billion measure for the Pentagon, veterans, homeland security measures, and keeping agencies running at their current levels, which Bush has indicated he will sign on into law.”

—Lydia DePillis, “Bombs Over a Bailout,” Slate, September 27, 2008.

“The steps seem intended to strengthen the role of diplomacy after a long stretch, particularly under Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in which the Pentagon, the vice president’s office and even the intelligence agencies held considerable sway over American foreign policy.”

—Mark Lander and Helene Cooper, “Clinton Moves to Widen Role of State Dept.,” The New York Times, December 23, 2008.

"Is the Obama administration prepared for this sea change in relations with America's closest Asian ally? The good news is that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell is one of Japan's most trusted friends in Washington. He played an instrumental role in revitalizing the alliance relationship in the 1990s when he was the Pentagon's top Asia official."

—Dan Twining, "The Coming Tsunami from Japan," Foreign Policy, July 14, 2009.

"A senior defense official said that James Clapper, the Pentagon's intelligence chief, assessed the Iraq intercepts at the direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and concluded they represented a shortcoming to the security of the drone network."

—Siobhan Gorman, Yochi J. Dreazen, and August Cole, "Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones: $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq: Iranian Backing Suspected," The Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2009, p. A1.

Links

Related on eAlmanac
The Pentagon Papers

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the Pentagon
The Pentagon official Web site