Gates and Iran

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 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.

'I think that while Iran cannot attack us directly militarily, I think that their capacity to potentially close off the Persian Gulf to all exports of oil, their potential to unleash a significant wave of terror both in the -- well, in the Middle East and in Europe and even here in this country is very real. They are certainly not being helpful in Iraq and are doing us -- I think doing damage to our interests there, but I think they could do a lot more to hurt our effort in Iraq,' he said.

'I think that it would give rise to significantly greater anti-Americanism than we have seen to date. I think it would immensely complicate our relationships with virtually every country in the region,' he said.

Gates also said Iran`s apparent efforts to develop a nuclear weapon should not be assumed to be for the purpose of destroying Israel, as Ahmadinejad`s rhetoric would suggest, but rather as a deterrent to an attack.

'I think that there are, in fact, higher powers in Iran than he, than the president. And I think that while they are certainly pressing, in my opinion, for a nuclear capability, I think that they would see it in the first instance as a deterrent. They are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons -- Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west, and us in the Persian Gulf,' Gates said.