Word: tolde
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...fighting - shocked Gates during his visit a year and a half ago. "He heard that we had a soldier who was shot and was in Spain's AOR [area of responsibility]. The Spanish troops had to call back to Madrid to seek permission to medevac him," a Pentagon aide told me. "The soldier lived. But Gates was furious." He also heard that while wounded soldiers in Iraq were guaranteed a medevac within the "golden hour," in Afghanistan they could wait as long as 1 hr. 41 min. Gates saw that there were Air Force helicopters sitting on the tarmac...
...story Gates' staff loves about him: Shortly before Obama's first state dinner, for the Indian Prime Minister in November, Gates was told that when he entered through the East Wing, a gauntlet of press would ask him what he was wearing. "Why would they ask me that?" he replied. Not wanting to be part of the red-carpet scene, he slipped in through the quiet West Wing entrance and went straight to the bar. For dinner he ate half a basket of dinner rolls, preferring them to the gourmet Indian-fusion cuisine being served to the dignitaries...
Laird was smoking a cigar, and Henry Kissinger told him to at least put it out before they went inside. "A couple of minutes into the Pope's remarks, Kissinger heard this little patting sound, and he looked over, and there was a wisp of smoke coming out of Laird's pocket. The Secretary of Defense was on fire. The American party heard this slapping and thought they were being cued to applaud. And so they did. And Henry later told us, 'God only knows what His Holiness thought, seeing the American Secretary of Defense immolating himself, and the entire...
...asked Gates recently about that night. He told me it was not a singular event. "At the end of the West Point graduation, I told them I consider every one of them as if they were my own sons and daughters. I feel a very personal sense of responsibility for each and every one of them," he said. "And one of the reasons I've stayed on is that I worry that whoever comes next won't care as deeply, won't do the MRAPs, isn't willing to spend $30 billion to save our kids' lives and limbs...
...leave the Pentagon. Just before the presidential election, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed contacted Gates. Would he be interested in staying on? Would he meet with Obama about it? Gates prepared some questions. He wanted Obama to know where he was coming from. Obama read them over and told Reed, "They're right on target. I'm impressed, and it'd be useful to have a conversation with...