Gates pledges ‘enduring’ US presence in Gulf

[Jcrowley]

Gates pledges ‘enduring’ US presence in Gulf
By Reuters, Friday December 22 2006

BAGHDAD, Dec. 22 (Reuters) - An increased U.S. naval presence in the Gulf is not a response to any action by Iran but a message to all countries that the United States will keep its regional footprint "for a long time", U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.

CBS News reported on Monday that a projected naval buildup was intended to discourage what U.S. officials view as increasingly provocative acts by Tehran pressing for a nuclear program and support for Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

"I don't think it's a response to anything anyone else has done," Gates told reporters during a three-day visit to Iraq.

"I think the message that we are sending to everyone, not just Iran, is that the United States is an enduring presence in this part of the world. We have been here for a long time. We will be here for a long time and everybody needs to remember that - both our friends and those who might consider themselves our adversaries," he said.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/fde9f7a0-919d-11db-a945-0000779e2340.html

Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. — George Orwell

[partylessinOhio]

1. Gates was the wrong man for the job. He would make a better Santa than SOD.

[shadowknows69]

2. What fecking right do we have to be in anyone's back yard

We can barely keep our own nation together.

[maxsolomon]

4. international waters, technically.

the policy of the american government is, and has been, to protect our national interests with projected military might. our national interests are middle east oil. that is the alpha & omega of all GOP, and most Democratic, policy thought on the subject. the anti-communist ideology is lip service, just for kicks. all that truly matters is the oil - it fuels our gluttony. without it we have no empire.

you can call it blinders; i do.

[GreenTea]

3. We are going to be in Iraq for a long time...lots of money & oil still to be stolen.