Gates and Iran - US:
"WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Robert Gates, the presumptive new U.S. defense secretary, warned against taking military action against Iran and Syria Tuesday.
'I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable. And I think that the consequences of a conflict -- a military conflict with Iran could be quite dramatic. And therefore, I would counsel against military action, except as a last resort and if we felt that our vital interests were threatened,' Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his nomination hearing Tuesday.
Gates answer suggests he would not embrace a pre-emptive war like the one declared on Iraq in 2003 despite the fact that Iran is closer to developing a nuclear weapon than Iraq apparently was in 2003, and has known ties to the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Iran has admitted to enriching uranium, a necessary ingredient for a nuclear warhead, and Iranian agents are believed to be exporting sophisticated bombs into Iraq, as well has helping illegal Shiite militias in a growing sectarian conflict against Sunnis.
For its part, Syria is believed by the U.S. government to be a home base for Sunni insurgents and a way station for foreign fighters, who retreat across the border for supplies, money and medical treatment.
Gates warned that Iran would retaliate to a U.S. military attack not with a conventional strike of its own but with terrorist attacks, cutting off the Persian Gulf to oil exporters, and getting far more involved in anti-American activities in Iraq."
"WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Robert Gates, the presumptive new U.S. defense secretary, warned against taking military action against Iran and Syria Tuesday.
'I think that we have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable. And I think that the consequences of a conflict -- a military conflict with Iran could be quite dramatic. And therefore, I would counsel against military action, except as a last resort and if we felt that our vital interests were threatened,' Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his nomination hearing Tuesday.
Gates answer suggests he would not embrace a pre-emptive war like the one declared on Iraq in 2003 despite the fact that Iran is closer to developing a nuclear weapon than Iraq apparently was in 2003, and has known ties to the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Iran has admitted to enriching uranium, a necessary ingredient for a nuclear warhead, and Iranian agents are believed to be exporting sophisticated bombs into Iraq, as well has helping illegal Shiite militias in a growing sectarian conflict against Sunnis.
For its part, Syria is believed by the U.S. government to be a home base for Sunni insurgents and a way station for foreign fighters, who retreat across the border for supplies, money and medical treatment.
Gates warned that Iran would retaliate to a U.S. military attack not with a conventional strike of its own but with terrorist attacks, cutting off the Persian Gulf to oil exporters, and getting far more involved in anti-American activities in Iraq."
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