Gates Explains Iran Strategy Memo

Jeffrey Chatterton /

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates delivers remarks regarding his US Defense Department budget recomendation for 2010, on April 6, 2009 at the Pentagon in Washington,DC. Gates announced Monday that his recommended defense budget would "profoundly reform" military spending, calling for cuts to major weapons programs such as F-22 fighter jets. "If approved, these recommendations will profoundly reform how this department does business," Gates told a news conference.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday sought to “correct” what he called “mischaracterizations” about the three-page memo that he had written on U.S. Iran policy last January after it became clear that Iran had rejected the Obama Administration’s efforts to resolve the nuclear issue through diplomacy.  While The New York Times previously had reported that some administration officials considered the memo to be a “wake-up call” about the weaknesses of the administration’s Iran policy, Gates denied that was his intent, explaining that the memo “presented a number of questions and proposals intended to contribute to an orderly and timely decision-making process.”

Gates sought to reassure U.S. allies, particularly Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, that the Obama Administration does have a strategy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.  He maintained that “There should be no confusion by our allies and adversaries that the United States is properly and energetically focused on this question and prepared to act across a broad range of contingencies in support of our interests.” (more…)