Gates: Iran causes chaos ‘everywhere’ it turns

Ahmadinejad hails findings as 'victory'
Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the new finding as a “declaration of victory” for his country. President Bush said last week the latest conclusion would not lead him to discard the possibility of pre-emptive military action against Iran. Nor, he said, would the United States change its policy of trying to isolate Iran diplomatically and seek to impose penalties.

“Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” he said after the estimate was released. In October, he had said people “interested in avoiding World War III” should help work to prevent Iran from gaining such information.

His administration has acknowledged that the report may make it harder to build international support to persuade Iran to give up its enrichment program. Gates said in Bahrain the analysis “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.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday in Belgium that the U.S. would not relent in pushing for new penalties against Iran, a position endorsed by NATO and other European allies. Russia ignored such talk.

Gates urges neighbors to unite
At the security conference, Gates urged Gulf states to back steps that would 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. He also said Gulf nations should cast aside their sectarian differences and support the struggling new government in Iraq.

“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.”

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.”

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