Gates Hosts First U.S.-Afghan Security Forum

Department of Defense Photo Essay

  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates escorts Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi through an honor cordon at the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011. The leaders participated in the first of what officials expect to be regular U.S.-Afghan security forums to sustain a long-term military-to-military relationship. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Sun L. Vega
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, center, escorts Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, left, and Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, right, through an honor cordon into the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, center, escorts Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, left, and Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, right, to a Pentagon conference room, Feb. 23, 2011. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, second from right, delivers opening remarks at the first of what officials hope to be regular U.S.-Afghan forums at the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, left foreground, and Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, second from left, participated in the forum. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, center right, delivers opening remarks for what officials expect to be regular U.S.-Afghan security forums at the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, left, and Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, second from left, attended the meeting. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, left, far side of table, and, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, right, participate in the first of what officials expect to be regular U.S.-Afghanistan meetings to sustain a long-term military-to-military relationship at the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates delivers opening remarks at the Pentagon, Feb. 23, 2011, at the first of what he envisions as biannual U.S.-Afghan security forums. Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, far left, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Earl Anthony Wayne, to the right of Gates, and Michael G. Vickers, acting undersecretary of defense for intelligence and assistant defense secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict joined Gates. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, third from left, delivers opening remarks at the first U.S.-Afghanistan security forum at the Pentagon on Feb. 23, 2011. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi, second from left, participated in the forum. DOD photo by R. D. Ward
  • Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, left, talks with U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in the Pentagon dining room, Feb. 23, 2011, before sitting down to a working lunch. DOD photo by R. D. Ward