Gates: US in 'preliminary' talks with Taliban for 'a few weeks' 
 
 By Jamie Klatell - 
 
 Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates confirmed on Sunday that there have been "preliminary" talks between U.S. officials and the 
 
 Taliban about ending the 10 year-old war in Afghanistan. 
 
 "I think there's been outreach by a number of countries, including the United States," Gates said on CNN's "State of the Union." "These contacts are very preliminary at this point." 
 
 Gates said the talks were being handled by the State Department, but at a level below the secretary of State. 
 
 Asked how long the talks had been going on, Gates said, "A few weeks maybe." 
 
 Word of negotiations with the Taliban came first from Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday. 
 
 But Gates said Sunday that an immediate end to the fighting was not likely. 
 
 "My own thoughts are that real reconciliation talks are not likely to be able to make any substantive headway until at least this winter," he said. "I think the Taliban have to feel themselves under military pressure and begin to believe that they can't win before they are willing to have a serious conversation." 
 
 Gates is stepping down from as Defense secretary in less than two weeks. 
 
 
 
 

 Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates defended the Obama administration Sunday against congressional critics who say President Barack Obama is in violation of the War Powers act over ongoing operations in Libya. 
 
 "I believe that President Obama has complied with the law consistent in a manner with virtually all of his predecessors," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday." "I don't think he's breaking any new ground here." 
 
 The War Powers Act generally requires the president to seek congressional approval within 60 days of the start of hostilities. The Obama administration has maintained that their mission in Libya is too limited to apply under the War Powers Act. 
 
 "From our standpoint at the Pentagon, we're involved in a limited kinetic operation," Gates told host Chris Wallace. "If I'm in [Libyan leader Muammar] Qadhafi's palace, I suspect I think I'm at war." 

 David Axelrod says that if Jon Huntsman disagreed with President Barack Obama's economic policy, he never voiced it during his time in the administration. 
 
 A senior strategist to the president's reelection campaign, Axelrod said in an interview aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that Huntsman's recent criticism of Obama's "failed" economic policy is "in conflict with what he communicated to us in 2009." 
 
 Axelrod recalled talking with Huntsman, then the U.S. ambassador to China, during a trip to Shanghai in late 2009. "If he had suggestions on the economy, he had an excellent opportunity to suggest them then, where we were all together in China," Axelrod said of Huntsman. 
 
 "What has changed is not his view of the economy, but his view of his own chances to, perhaps, win the [Republican presidential] nomination," Axelrod said. "I understand. That's politics. He's a politician, and he sees an opportunity." 
 
 The president's political strategist also recalled some of Huntsman's praise for Obama during that 2009 meeting. 
 
 "He was encouraging on health care. He was encouraging on the whole range of issues," Axelrod said. "He was a little quizzical about what was going on in his own party. And you got the strong sense that he was going to wait until 2016 for the storm to blow over." 
 
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– Robert Gates confirmed today that the US is in "preliminary" talks with the Taliban, reports the Hill, cautioning that they've only been going on for a "few weeks." Appearing on State of the Union and Fox News Sunday, the outgoing defense secretary said the State Department was handling talks—though not at the level of Hillary Clinton—but that he didn't expect "substantive headway until at least this winter. "I think the Taliban have to feel themselves under military pressure and begin to believe that they can't win before they are willing to have a serious conversation." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, as per Politico: Gates on War Powers Act: "President Obama has complied with the law consistent in a manner with virtually all of his predecessors. From our standpoint at the Pentagon, we're involved in a limited kinetic operation." John McCain on WPA backlash: "I would say to my Republican friends, if this were a Republican president, would you be trying to impose these same conditions? We don't want to do anything ... which would encourage Gadhafi to remain in power." Lindsey Graham on why Congress should 'shut up' on WPA: "The president's done a lousy job of communicating and managing our involvement in Libya—but I will be no part of an effort to defund Libya or cut off our effort to bring Gadhafi down." Graham on GOP candidates waffling on Afghanistan: "If you think the pathway to the GOP nomination is to get to Barack Obama's left, you're going to meet a lot of headwinds." David Axelrod on Jon Huntsman's tenure as ambassador: "What has changed is not his view of the economy, but his view of his own chances to, perhaps, win the nomination. That's politics." But, "He was encouraging on the whole range of issues. He was a little quizzical about what was going on in his own party. And you got the strong sense that he was going to wait until 2016 for the storm to blow over."