Obama's Uneasy Relationship With The Pentagon

On a trip to Afghanistan during President Barack Obama's first term, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was stunned to find a telephone line at the military's special operations headquarters that linked directly back to a top White House national security official.

"I had them tear it out while I was standing there," Gates said earlier this month as he recounted his discovery. "I told the commanders, 'If you get a call from the White House, you tell them to go to hell and call me.'"

To Gates, the phone in Kabul came to symbolize Obama's efforts to micromanage the Pentagon and centralize decision