Robert Gates on Iran
Robert Gates, reportedly against attacking Iran, is in Bahrain spreading counterspin against the NIE. There's the usual stuff, training and arming militias, then there's this,
Overall, it was a pretty broad and preachy speech to our allies in the region. (Also, the NYTimes version.)
Gates charged that Tehran was developing "medium-range ballistic missiles that are not particularly cost-effective unless equipped with warheads carrying weapons of mass destruction.".....
Gates conceded the timing of the report (NIE) was not ideal. "The estimate fairly has come at a wrong time, it has annoyed a number of our good friends and confused a number of people," he told delegates.
Overall, it was a pretty broad and preachy speech to our allies in the region. (Also, the NYTimes version.)
posted by mikevotes at
5:37 AM
6 Comments:
From the link:
"The Pentagon said on Friday it had notified Congress of possible arms sales worth more than 10 billion dollars to oil-rich Gulf states including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to beef up their missile and air defences against Iran."
It would seem to me that these arms sales could just as easily be used to defend against Israel. Hardly any of the Gulf states even recognise Israel.
Nobody in the region wants to see the Shia state in Iran become stronger, but that is exactly what the invasion of Iraq has done. It eliminated Iran's primary nemesis and brought at least a Shia-friendly government into power there. And when Gates talks about "destabilisation of the region", I imagine most of those states are thinking about the effects of the Iraq occupation: disruption of the oil supplies, Kurd/Turk relations, refugees, Al-Qaeda...not to mention having a civil war on your border.
Am I alone in thinking that "the region" is getting tired of us telling them what's best for them?
By
Todd Dugdale , at 1:31 PM
Right. They all know that the decisions of this administration have made their lives very much harder. It's added fuel to the anti-monarch/anti-despot fires.
But on the other hand, I think they also realize that this administration is lame duck, and that new policy will come relatively shortly.
Watch, they're working for permanent concessions from the US in exchange for temporary measures.
We gave those $10 bil in weapons for them to show up at Annapolis. Now they did, it's dead, and they've got the weapons deals. (And a place to spend their oil dollars.)
By
mikevotes, at 1:51 PM
Those weapons probably have a self destruct feature if they get pointed the wrong way.
By
Anonymous, at 1:59 PM
The "kill switch."
That's actually a pretty big issue in some of these deals for fighters and tanks.
That's also why the Pakistanis keep the US way far away from their nuclear program, hiding it from us.
By
mikevotes, at 2:07 PM
I'm not sure the arms were 'given' Mike. Somebody probably made a bundle on that deal.
By
Anonymous, at 5:25 PM
Yeah, sorry. wrong language. Allowed to be bought.
By
mikevotes, at 9:59 PM
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