Gates: U.S. Not In Mideast To Provoke Iran

Defense Chief, Secretary Of State On High-Stakes Diplomacy Mission

(CBS/AP)  President Bush's top national security aides said Tuesday their double-barreled show of diplomatic and military support for friendly Arab allies this week is not a shot across Iran's bow.

"We are out here to talk about the long term," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, as he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began two days of meetings among Persian Gulf allies and Egypt. Gates noted that U.S. relationships in the Gulf and beyond predate the current unease over Iran's ambitions and influence.

If Iran perceives the joint visit and U.S. overtures differently, "that's in the eye of the beholder," Gates said.

The Cabinet secretaries also said during a joint news conference in this Red Sea resort that they heard worries from Arab allies about the future of the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

"Clearly there is concern ... that the United States will somehow withdraw precipitously from Iraq, or in some way that is destabilizing to the entire region," Gates said.

He pledged "understanding that this needs to be done carefully and not leave Iraq in chaos," he said before jetting off with Rice to hold meetings later in the day in Saudi Arabia.

The United States won no specific new promises of Arab help for struggling Iraq on Tuesday, but Rice said she heard the right expressions of support after a gathering of several nations listed as recipients of an expanded aid and weapons package for friendly states in the region.

Iraq's Arab neighbors repeated a general pledge to promote stability in Iraq, torn by more than four years of war and bitter sectarian divisions that have killed thousands and driven far more from their homes.

"I think we know what the obligations of the neighbors are," Rice said, adding that Egypt and other U.S. allies are working to meet past promises of relief of Iraq's heavy international debt, additional foreign aid and help tamping down violence inside Iraq.

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, traveling with Secretary Rice, says what the diplomatic mission is really trying to accomplish is an end to the "war of proxy" taking place between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, on Iraqi soil.

"Iran has close ties to Iraq's Shiite government, and Shiite militias, whereas Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-ruled country, has an affinity for Iraq's Sunni tribes. Each country has reportedly provided funding and support, and in some cases arms to their chosen group," explains Dozier.

She says U.S. officials are offering millions of dollars in aid to Gulf region governments as an incentive to reduce their support for groups operating inside Iraq.

Even before a $20 billion arms deal was officially announced by the White Housed, the Iranian foreign ministry called it a deliberate attempt by Washington to destabilize the region by stoking tension between neighbors. (Read more)

"What the Persian Gulf region needs is stability and security," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying on the Web site of the Iranian state broadcasting company. "Americans have been trying to disturb it by selling weapons to the region."

Hosseini went on to accuse the Bush administration of crafting foreign policy to drive the sale of military hardware to allies. "Americans have pursued a particular policy in the region: creation of fear and concern among regional countries in order to prepare an opportunity for selling arms," he said.

Rice and Gates were making a rare joint show of diplomatic force during two days of meetings with Arab allies — part of an 11th-hour effort to rally diplomatic and practical help for the U.S.-backed Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The tour also opens talks on a proposed U.S. arms package for Arab states worth more than $20 billion.

But at a news conference with her Egyptian host, Rice pointed to no fresh commitments from the Arabs. A statement issued following a nine-nation meeting promised only "to continue to support Iraq and expand their financial and political support," and restated a general commitment to blocking would-be terrorists and financing that supports them from entering Iraq.

"The ... commitment was always to help a united Iraq to reach that point of full stability, and that we have been trying to do over the last four years," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said following the joint meeting.

Mr. Bush's top diplomatic and military managers have a tough assignment to convince skeptical, mostly Sunni-led Arab nations that they have more to lose if Iraq fails than they stand to gain by waiting until the U.S. leaves or the president's term ends.

The Cabinet secretaries are also trying to solidify what the U.S. sees as a bulwark of generally moderate Arab states against an increasingly ambitious and unpredictable Iran.

"We have also been calling for the noninterference of any foreign powers into Iraq," Aboul Gheit said. "That is something we would renew."

Unity against Iran is not a hard sell. But Washington has had far less success in rallying Arab help for Iraq that goes much beyond words.

Arab money and diplomatic support has lagged behind Europe's, and some of Iraq's neighbors quietly tolerate, or may secretly support, attacks inside Iraq. Some of the violence targets U.S. forces and some of it Shiite militias and neighborhoods.

For their part, Arab countries may be worried that escalating opposition in the U.S. to the war in Iraq may signal a declining commitment to security in the region.

[randalds]

Check out the picture above accompanying this story. Gates and Rice both have the "I got mine last night" grin in their face. I wonder if Bushy baby girl Condi has been stepping out on him? I don't which one she'd find the most disgusting though? The old man from the State Department or the Hitler want-to-be in the White House? Apparently she'll do both.

[randalds]

-ban_islam looks to be the new neighborhood idiott. He seems to take over arse008's place while the real iddiot is on vacation or maternity leave?

Posted by grazinggoat at 10:06 PM : Jul 31, 2007

I can't decide if he's really the arse reincarnated or his twin brother or his after-birth? he's got to be connected to him in some manner, because the thought that there's more then one that crazy is too terrible to contemplate.

[firststate]

CondeLiar says we should provide arms to the Saudis.

The Saudis provide arms & money to Iraq's Sunnis.

Those Sunnis use the arms from the Saudis to kill Americans. (19 times as many Americans as the Shia)

CondeLiar complains about Iran arming the Shia.
(5% of out fatalities)

This is the logic in bushworld:
The people providing the weapons who kill 19 of every 20 fatalities get arms.
AND
Those killing 1 of every 20 fatalities are demonized.

Is stupidity contagious? If so, CondeLiar may have caught "dumb" from georgie-boy.

[grazinggoat]

This is a war between Civilization (the West) and Barbarism (islam) and we cannot afford to lose.
Posted by ban_islam at 01:24 PM : Jul 31, 2007

-ban_islam looks to be the new neighborhood idiott. He seems to take over arse008's place while the real iddiot is on vacation or maternity leave?

-Yo iddiot, you don't seem to read well. Who is invading other's land IDDIOTT? Who is giving weapons and weapons of mass destruction to the Arabs and who is stirring Sh*t in the Middle-East, Iddiot? You know not read? ignorant illeterate iddiott... Need more.

[randalds]

"Gates: U.S. Not In Mideast To Provoke Iran"

BULL!!!! Cheney and the neocons have had a hard on for invading Iran for decades now and they will provoke a war if they have to assassinate Bush and blame it on Iran! There is no level of filth they won't drag our country down into and no atrocity they won't commit in order to find an excuse! They WILL provoke a war with Iran and they WILL use nuclear weapons in it! If Gates doesn't realize that that's one of the main reasons the neocons invaded Iraq then he'd better pull his head out of his as*s before he goes down in history as an unwilling co-conspirator in the greatest mass murder in human history! Wake up Gates!

[mcvet]

It is a fascist ideology like Nazism but disguised as a religion and is 100 times larger. There is no such thing as radical/moderate muslim-its a fiction we invented, there is only muslim and non-muslim. This is a war between Civilization (the West) and Barbarism (islam) and we cannot afford to lose.
Posted by ban_islam at 01:24 PM : Jul 31, 2007

Sparky in a recent poll the Citizens of our Ally, Germany, found by over 80% that the present day Republican Party and especially George Bush, were FASCIST! Don't you think THAT should be a bigger concern for you than what kind of Government these people choose? Sieg Heil Bush.

[hungry1968]

"Gates: U.S. Not In Mideast To Provoke Iran"

Yeah! We're there to find WMD's!

Um actually - Were taking the fight to the terrorists!

Oh no - wait. Regime Change! Yeah that's it!

Oh hold on - Nation Building!

Oh wait a minutes - Defending liberty and freedom!

No, wait a minute. I'll get it...

[ban_islam]

This is the Real Islam-what muslims don't want you to know:
(remove any spaces in links to view videos)


Dispatches - Undercover Mosque (1 of 6)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peFQWuk4nuo

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vypKSWHlnKA

England - Islam Victory in Europe - Muslims
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKUoxbR9mwA

"Death to America" chants in Iran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92myDzAFgU4

Iranian Former Leader Explains Why Say "Death to America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OIUieD2KN4

Truth about islam from an ex-muslim lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wPglHZQf-0


Some great sites to learn more:

www.faithfreedom.org
www.prophetofdoom.net
www.thereligionofpeace.com
www.frontpagemag.com
www.jihadwatch.org
skepticsannotatedbible.com


Islam is a 6th century death cult started by a mass-murdering Arab pedophile and thief named Mohammed. It has been waging an endless war against us non-muslims for 1400 years to Islamify the world. Muslims have destroyed advanced cultures/civilizations, killed and enslaved countless millions.

It is a fascist ideology like Nazism but disguised as a religion and is 100 times larger. There is no such thing as radical/moderate muslim-its a fiction we invented, there is only muslim and non-muslim. This is a war between Civilization (the West) and Barbarism (islam) and we cannot afford to lose.

[tbweb]

If Iran is complaining about this deal it has to be good! Now the U.S. needs to do the same thing to counter Chavez!

[grazinggoat]

-Got to have some rice for lunch. I'll open the gates of wellwishing for me to have a good digestion...

-This is so ridiculously iddddiot. hoaoaoaoaoh! sigh!

[condumism]

6/5/07: Fed Chairman and Republicon Bernanke said he believes some of the forces that figured in the slow growth of the US economy in the 1st quarter of 2007 were due to weak federal defense spending that "seemed likely to be at least partially reversed in the near term."

Here we are folks, smack in the middle of the military industrial complex that is now the number one wheel behind the US economy. Our Fascist, paranoid Republicons fear machine continues to throw money at the needless US Military.

Want to talk about government waste? The US National Labs are a perfect example of throwing money at worthless causes. Los Alamos has a staff of about 9,000 people, most of whom have absolutley nothing to do with the defense of America. PhD's all over the place creating useless models of hypothetical future events, mostly for salaries well above $100,000 per year. And many of these PhD. schleps are running private businesses on the side from Los Alamos, with virtually no oversight from the "for profit" corporate entity known as LANS that now skims $59 million per year from this epicenter of fraud, waste, and massive abuse of US tax $$$.

WAKE UP AMERICA, YOU'RE BEING ROBBED EVERYDAY BY THE CORPORATE US MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, WHO HAVE BOUGHT AND PAYED FOR EVERY RETHUGLICON in ELECTED OFFICE!

[williamfold]

why try and spread peace through diplomacy when you can sell the future enemy some weapons and weapons technology for a cool couple billion?

[tuckerndfw]

Why is Israel considered an ally?

Why are US taxpayers borrowing money from China, Saudi Arabia and others so we can turn around and hand it over to other nations?

Why aren't they using their own credit cards to buy toys for their governments?

[tuckerndfw]

In 2005, the Bush administration claimed that Venezuela buying 100,000 AK-47's from Russia would "destabilize the region."

Maybe Russia should follow the US example and sell Venezuela nukes.

[tuckerndfw]

It appears Iran better hurry with those nukes they are allegedly developing.

It also appears the "peace dividend" Ronnie Raygun earned with his alleged defeat of those evil communists is being squandered by the Bush administration.

[hungry1968]

I guess Bush figures that if you keep adding more fuel to the fire, that it might just burn itself out.

Maybe we should pull our troops out of Iraq and start selling nukes in the region?

[brianbwb-2009]

Who would the Arab nations be worried about their fellow Arab nations disrupting the security in the region?
Posted by radiob

What is even sicker is that the arms used by the "disruptors" exists because "Bush administration announced Monday a proposed U.S. arms package to Arab nations worth more than $20 billion. The sophisticated weaponry, according to U.S. officials, would strengthen relatively moderate Persian Gulf regimes against extremist regimes and ideologies, chief among them Iran."

These weapons will soon be used against American soldiers, thus furthering Bush's reasoning for invading sovereign states

[brianbwb-2009]

to MCVet,

Bush never cared about the Taliban, he just wanted to install a puppet who would OK his pipeline. So what if they were a "brutal" regime? Their brutality pales in comparison with what Bush visited upon them, and now that all his reasons have been exposed for the lies that they are, his sycophants want to turn it into an anti' Islam war, now the innocents should die for their choice of religion. Bush has killed, kidnapped, tortured, and otherwise harmed far more people than the Taliban ever did.

As for Al Qaeda, they began as a construct for the CIA, as proxy against Russia during that war, they are now serving Bush as the "Boogieman", to scare a misinformed US into acceding to Bush's crimes. The leaders know it, even if their recruits don't, so rather than say "rebuilt" it would be more accurate to say "redeployed". As long as their existence can be used by Bush to circumvent law, they will exist, and when Bush and Cheney's puppet masters have no more use for them, they will magically disappear....

[mcvet]

"Iran has close ties to Iraq's Shiite government, and Shiite militias, whereas Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-ruled country, has an affinity for Iraq's Sunni tribes. Each country has reportedly provided funding and support, and in some cases arms to their chosen group," explains Dozier.

Now didn't that LYING piece of C-r-a-p that a few still call a President tell us just last week that Al Quada was the problem in Iraq? LMAO What a bunch of LOSERS!! Sieg Heil Bush

[mcvet]

If this wasn't so sad it would be funny. Here we are, over FIVE years into this thing, and FINALLY the Reich has figured out they need the help of MODERATE Middle Eastern Countries... AFTER Al Qaeda has completely rebuilt and the Taliban is back. Wow! Talk about INCOMPETENT. Now what's the chances that a government run by a man most of the world conciders the second coming of Hitler is going to get MODERATE help? LMAO. We need new leadership and people who ACTUALLY know what the word Statesmanship means more than anything right now. The problem? We are 18 months away from that being possible. Sieg Heil Bush.