US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Middle East nations Saturday to help fight the spread of violent extremism by funding and training Afghan security forces and reaching out more aggressively to the fledgling government in Iraq. Gates also assured a gathering of Persian Gulf leaders that President-elect Barack Obama will continue the U.S. commitment to the Middle East, including efforts to fight terrorism and develop a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to the AP, Gates issued a public warning that any effort by terrorists to test the new administration would be a mistake because there has been extensive planning to ensure a smooth transition. "Anyone who thought that the upcoming months might present opportunities to 'test' the new administration would be sorely mistaken," Gates said. "President Obama and his national security team, myself included, will be ready to defend the interests of the United States and our friends and allies from the moment he takes office on Jan. 20."
Saying that a stable Iraq can play an important role in the region, Gates called on Gulf leaders to set aside old hostilities inflamed in the Saddam era and forge diplomatic ties with Iraq. "All of us have a stake in Iraq's ongoing fight with extremists," Gates said. "Neighbors must lend support and increase their border-control efforts, especially those that have thus far failed to live up to pledges to tighten border crossings."
On Iran, Gates pressed Gulf nations to impose sanctions on Tehran but added that they can be even more influential "by welcoming the new Iraq into the Arab fold." Withholding support for the country, he said, increases the risk that Iraq will be overcome by Iranian influence that has already cost many lives.
Asked later about Iran, Gates said Tehran is meddling and attempting to destabilize the region, but said the U.S. is not working for a regime change there, just a change in Iran's behavior. He said the incoming Obama administtation is "under no illusion about Iran's behavior and what Iran has been doing in the region" and what it has been doing to increase its weapons program, including it's pursuit of nuclear power.
