Gates: Gulf Nations Must Confront Iran
Persian Gulf nations must demand that Iran come clean about its past nuclear ambitions and openly vow to not develop such weapons in the future, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday.
In a broad call to diplomatic arms, Gates exhorted leaders from the Gulf to band together to force Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program and to help the fragile Iraqi government.
"Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos, no matter the strategic value or cost in the blood of innocents - Christians, Jews and Muslims alike," Gates said in a keynote address at an international security conference.
"There can be little doubt that their destabilizing foreign policies are a threat to the interests of the United States, to the interests of every country in the Middle East, and to the interests of all countries within the range of the ballistic missiles Iran is developing," he continued.
And in a sarcastic riff, he goaded Iran to acknowledge its bad behavior - from arming terrorists in Iraq to its support for militant organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Some questioners challenged his thinking on Iran, underscoring the divide among Arab nations over America's tough stance on Tehran. Asked if the United States would be willing to talk with Iran, Gates said the behavior of Iran's new leadership "has not given one confidence that a dialogue would be productive."
Noting that Iran embraced the recent U.S. intelligence estimate that concluded it had actually stopped atomic weapons development in 2003, Gates drew chuckles from the crowd when he suggested that Iran should accept that all other intelligence conclusions about its conduct are true. Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed it as a "declaration of victory" for his country.
"In reality, you cannot pick and choose only the conclusions you like of this National Intelligence Estimate," Gates said. "Since that government now acknowledges the quality of American intelligence assessments, I assume that it also will embrace as valid American intelligence assessments of its funding and training of militia groups in Iraq."
Gates said Iran should also acknowledge it delivers weapons to terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, supports terror groups and continues to develop ballistic missiles that could be used to carry weapons of mass destruction.
Gates' rebukes didn't reach any Iranian ears directly, since Iran abruptly decided not to attend the gathering, organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
While Gates used the intelligence estimate as a hammer against Iran here, the report has bruised the Bush administration. The findings were in stark contrast to a 2005 estimate that said Tehran was continuing its weapons development.
And it flies in the face of U.S. President George W. Bush's rhetoric on Iran, such as when he said in October that people "interested in avoiding World War III" should be working to prevent Iran from having the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon.
The administration has acknowledged that the report may make it harder to build international support to persuade Iran to give up its uranium enrichment program. When asked about it, Gates agreed the report came at an awkward time and "it has annoyed a number of our good friends, it has confused a lot of people around the world in terms of what we are trying to accomplish."
Gates' speech followed efforts by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press for new sanctions against Iran.
Rice asserted Friday in Brussels, Belgium, that Washington would continue pressing for new sanctions against Iran while holding talks to convince Tehran to come clean about its nuclear program.
But Russia ignored her calls to punish Iran. Despite continued support from NATO and other European allies, Rice was unable to convince Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that fresh sanctions were urgently needed.
Gates, in his speech, pressed Gulf nations to back sanctions to force Iran to suspend enrichment, and to demand that Iran "openly affirm that it does not intend to develop nuclear weapons in the future."
In a complex region where partnerships do not come easy, Gates said the countries need to pull together and develop regional air and missile defense systems.
Gates, who was in Iraq earlier this week, also issued a stern call for the Gulf nations to cast aside their sectarian differences and support the struggling new government there.
"The progress is real. But it is also fragile," he said. "The Iraqi government must use this breathing space bought with the blood of American, Coalition and Iraqi troops to pass critical legislation."
He told the gathering that the decline in violence is due to new military tactics, the improved Iraqi military, the decision by some militants to reject terrorism and the "groundswell of ordinary citizens who have risen up to fight against al Qaeda."
Nations in the Middle East, he said, have the most to lose if Iraq dissolves in chaos, and the most to gain if it becomes a stable, secure trading partner.
"I urge you to exercise your influence with the Iraqis and encourage them to meet their own goals and expectations, to live up to their own promises," said Gates. "For other Arabs to withhold support and friendship because of the composition of Iraq's government ... is to increase the risk of the very outcome many in the region fear."
Gates ended his speech with a grim warning against underestimating the United States.
Some countries, he said, "may believe our resolve has been corroded by the challenges we face at home and abroad. This would be a grave misconception."
Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and the former Soviet Union all made that miscalculation, Gates said. "All paid the price. All are on the ash heap of history."
Gates' stop in Bahrain is the last stop on a frenetic, weeklong tour of the region, which included meetings with military commanders on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In a broad call to diplomatic arms, Gates exhorted leaders from the Gulf to band together to force Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program and to help the fragile Iraqi government.
"Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos, no matter the strategic value or cost in the blood of innocents - Christians, Jews and Muslims alike," Gates said in a keynote address at an international security conference.
"There can be little doubt that their destabilizing foreign policies are a threat to the interests of the United States, to the interests of every country in the Middle East, and to the interests of all countries within the range of the ballistic missiles Iran is developing," he continued.
And in a sarcastic riff, he goaded Iran to acknowledge its bad behavior - from arming terrorists in Iraq to its support for militant organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Some questioners challenged his thinking on Iran, underscoring the divide among Arab nations over America's tough stance on Tehran. Asked if the United States would be willing to talk with Iran, Gates said the behavior of Iran's new leadership "has not given one confidence that a dialogue would be productive."
Noting that Iran embraced the recent U.S. intelligence estimate that concluded it had actually stopped atomic weapons development in 2003, Gates drew chuckles from the crowd when he suggested that Iran should accept that all other intelligence conclusions about its conduct are true. Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed it as a "declaration of victory" for his country.
"In reality, you cannot pick and choose only the conclusions you like of this National Intelligence Estimate," Gates said. "Since that government now acknowledges the quality of American intelligence assessments, I assume that it also will embrace as valid American intelligence assessments of its funding and training of militia groups in Iraq."
Gates said Iran should also acknowledge it delivers weapons to terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, supports terror groups and continues to develop ballistic missiles that could be used to carry weapons of mass destruction.
Gates' rebukes didn't reach any Iranian ears directly, since Iran abruptly decided not to attend the gathering, organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
While Gates used the intelligence estimate as a hammer against Iran here, the report has bruised the Bush administration. The findings were in stark contrast to a 2005 estimate that said Tehran was continuing its weapons development.
And it flies in the face of U.S. President George W. Bush's rhetoric on Iran, such as when he said in October that people "interested in avoiding World War III" should be working to prevent Iran from having the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon.
The administration has acknowledged that the report may make it harder to build international support to persuade Iran to give up its uranium enrichment program. When asked about it, Gates agreed the report came at an awkward time and "it has annoyed a number of our good friends, it has confused a lot of people around the world in terms of what we are trying to accomplish."
Gates' speech followed efforts by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press for new sanctions against Iran.
Rice asserted Friday in Brussels, Belgium, that Washington would continue pressing for new sanctions against Iran while holding talks to convince Tehran to come clean about its nuclear program.
But Russia ignored her calls to punish Iran. Despite continued support from NATO and other European allies, Rice was unable to convince Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that fresh sanctions were urgently needed.
Gates, in his speech, pressed Gulf nations to back sanctions to force Iran to suspend enrichment, and to demand that Iran "openly affirm that it does not intend to develop nuclear weapons in the future."
In a complex region where partnerships do not come easy, Gates said the countries need to pull together and develop regional air and missile defense systems.
Gates, who was in Iraq earlier this week, also issued a stern call for the Gulf nations to cast aside their sectarian differences and support the struggling new government there.
"The progress is real. But it is also fragile," he said. "The Iraqi government must use this breathing space bought with the blood of American, Coalition and Iraqi troops to pass critical legislation."
He told the gathering that the decline in violence is due to new military tactics, the improved Iraqi military, the decision by some militants to reject terrorism and the "groundswell of ordinary citizens who have risen up to fight against al Qaeda."
Nations in the Middle East, he said, have the most to lose if Iraq dissolves in chaos, and the most to gain if it becomes a stable, secure trading partner.
"I urge you to exercise your influence with the Iraqis and encourage them to meet their own goals and expectations, to live up to their own promises," said Gates. "For other Arabs to withhold support and friendship because of the composition of Iraq's government ... is to increase the risk of the very outcome many in the region fear."
Gates ended his speech with a grim warning against underestimating the United States.
Some countries, he said, "may believe our resolve has been corroded by the challenges we face at home and abroad. This would be a grave misconception."
Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and the former Soviet Union all made that miscalculation, Gates said. "All paid the price. All are on the ash heap of history."
Gates' stop in Bahrain is the last stop on a frenetic, weeklong tour of the region, which included meetings with military commanders on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Iran has been secretly designing her weopons program for a decade or more, all agreed, and has always lied about it.
NOW all of sudden they agree they stopped it in 2003.
In 1939 a British politician held a decloration from Adolth Hitler, Germany was not about to invade Poland,
nine million people lost thier lives over a piece of paper with a lie written on it.
So what about this train of thought?
I have made a bomb casing that was in 2003, I have built a delivery system for the projectile, and it fits I Finnished that last year and tested it for all too see, and last, any time now I will have the final piece to complete my so called defunct weopons program. come on people this is not a piece of paper that Mr Bush is holding saying alright hands up you where right but your worng on all over counts.
Mr Bush and his team of politicians have played a very clever political hand and Iran Has fell hook line and sinker, Because the route of the troubles in the middle east are down to Iran.
(Remember you did not Kill first these people went to America to Kill you.)
Posted by cattlekate at 10:45 PM : Dec 09, 2007,,,
Nobody wants to bomb Iran unless absolutely necessary! The idea is to prevent Iran from bombing Israel or U.S. interest or passing dirty nukes to terrorist. Few trust Iran with nuclear weapons. In a nutshell, the issue of Iran with nuclear weapons comes down to "trust" and Iran has proven it can''t be trusted! The real question is this; Iran does not recognize Israels right to exist, Iran wants to wipe or erase Israel off the map, and does the expression of how Iran wants to go about it really matter?, Iran wants Israel gone! At the same time Iran wants nuclear power for peace! For the life of me, why can''t people see the incompatibility in those 2 things? To make matters worst, Iran currently supports armed conflict with Israel through proxy by supporting, funding and arming Hezzbollah and Hamas! This idea of wanting War with Iran or wanting to bomb Iran is crazy, nobody wants that, the real issue is Iran wants to be "trusted" with nuclear technology nobody is willing to grant based on Iran''s hostile rhetoric and posture. Its really as simple as that!
Posted by Prinzowhales
Like in "Patriot", our sins have come back to haunt us..... ever seen "The War on Democracy", www.freedocumentaries.org?
The New World Order''s former Senator Gary Hart wrote an open letter to the Iranians telling them a few months ago that the US was fully capable of carrying out a false flag attack and blaming it on them, if memory serves. Now Irangate''s Gates is over there threatening Iran and like the spokesman for a punchdrunk fighter trying to convince himself and the betting public that America is still the champ...
What neither Gates nor the rest of that atheistic Neo-Con crew realize is that America is the champ when she follows a good and true course--and for decades she has strayed far from that course and is paying the price. Karmic Justice is really tough...
Some countries, he said, "may believe our resolve has been corroded by the challenges we face at home and abroad. This would be a grave misconception."
Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and the former Soviet Union all made that miscalculation, Gates said. "All paid the price. All are on the ash heap of history." the drumbeats of WAR are surely getting closer....
we''ve mamaged to shoot ourselves in the foot on about everything - there is no silver lining to any of the present adminstartions policies.
After 7 long years, I can''t think of thing where I can say to myself, well, there''s something worthwhile with one exception being the initial ousting of the Taliban. But even that we were not able to consolidate.
An F for the exercise is merited.