BRIEFING BY U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT M. GATES FROM NATO HEADQUARTERS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
January 15, 2007
Excerpts
. . .
Q: Mr. Secretary, with your recent decision to deploy
Patriot missiles to the Gulf and to move a second aircraft carrier
into that region, is the United States moving toward confrontation
with Iran; and if it's not, what is the purpose of those deployments?
SEC. GATES: I think that what we are trying to communicate
to all of the countries in the Gulf area is a reaffirmation that the United
States has had a strong presence in the Gulf for a long time. Multiple presidents
have affirmed that stability in the Gulf is in the long-term strategic vital
interests of the United States and we are simply reaffirming that statement
of the importance of the Gulf region to the United States and our determination
to be an ongoing strong presence in that area for a long time into the future.
. . .
Q: Just to follow up on Bob's question: there have
been calls by the Iraq Study Group and others for more diplomatic engagement
with Iran. One of the thrusts of the administration's new Iraq strategy
appears to be more confrontation with Iran. You've talked about going
after Iranian networks inside Iraq; the Patriot deployments, the carrier
deployments, do seem to be aimed, in part at least, at Iran. Is that
the case and can you explain the thinking behind that?
SEC. GATES: Well I had, as you probably remember, I co-chaired
a council on foreign relations study on the United States relations with Iran
in 2004 with Dr. Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Advisor,
and our conclusion at that time was that it would be useful for the United
States to engage with Iran and it appeared to be promising because the Iranians
clearly were concerned by the presence of American troops on both their eastern
and western borders and there was some evidence they were actually doing some
things to be helpful inside Iraq. None of those conditions apply any longer.
The Iranians clearly believe that we're tied down in Iraq; that they have the
initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways. They are
doing nothing to be constructive in Iraq at this point. In addition, they have
supported Hezbollah's efforts to create a new conflict in Lebanon and so the
Iranians are acting in a very negative way in many respects. My view is that
when the Iranians are prepared to play a constructive role in dealing with
some of these problems, then there might be opportunities for engagement. Secretary
Rice already has said that she would sit down any time, any place with her
counterpart from Iran if they would commit not to enrich uranium.
So the opportunity is there for engagement, but I would say that the initiative
needs to rest with the Iranians and we are simply trying to communicate to
the region that we're going to be there for a long time.
. . .