"There are no two people in government who appreciate the gravity of the decisions that are being discussed and that will ultimately be made than the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States.

VOA: standard.2009.09.23

Notwithstanding the beefing up of U.S. forces there, the United States in the person of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has signaled an openness towards accepting the sort of deal for the Afghans that the Pakistanis have now acquiesced to in the Swat Valley.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Mr. DONALD RUMSFELD (Secretary of Defense, United States): Those reports have been flying around since about four months I assumed my post in 2001.

NPR: Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Self-Defense

The United States Senate is poised to confirm as the next Secretary of Defense a man who, back during Angleton's days, would have been considered a security threat.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Determined disinterest in our own destruction