IISS 2008 Regional Security Summit Press Coverage
- 15 Dec 2008 - - Dar Al-Hayat - Gates's ''Carrot'' and the Gulf ''Stick''!
Will the Iranians settle for the "carrot" which the old/new US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates offered them in Bahrain, when he said that his government under Barack Obama does not intend to change the regime in Tehran, but simply wants it to change its policies and improve its behavior? What is the use of such a carrot if the "stick" which the highest military official in Washington has waved at the Iranians is the regional one? Indeed, he has asked the countries in the region to play a more effective ro
- 15 Dec 2008 - - Fox News - Special Report with Brit Hume
HUME: Defense Secretary Gates says the Persian Gulf will be a major concern for the incoming Obama ad-ministration, and he is warning potential adversaries not to test the new president. Gates brought what he called a message of continuity and commitment to leaders of gulf nations attending a security conference in Bahrain. But correspondent Dana Lewis reports many in the region remain wary.
- 15 Dec 2008 - - New York Times - A Defense Secretary at Work For 2 Commanders in Chief
Mr. Gates is also a proponent of continuity in national security, a view he underscored to the leaders of the Persian Gulf nations assembled in Manama. ''I bring from President-elect Obama a message of continuity and commitment to our friends in the region,'' he told them
- 15 Dec 2008 - - Time - To Beat Somalia's Pirates, Fix Their Country
One of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, Islamic terrorism and rampant human trafficking have all failed to draw the world's interest to Somalia. The return of piracy to the high seas, however, has. The Somali pirates have attacked more than 100 vessels in the waters leading to and from the Suez Canal this year, and earned tens of millions of dollars in ransom. Today they are holding 17 ships with around 300 crew members off the Somali coast. And at a weekend security conference organized by the Int
- 15 Dec 2008 - - United Press International - Gates upbeat on Iraq, slams Iran
Gates offered a highly optimistic vision of Iraq when he addressed the opening session of the fifth Manama Dialogue conference in the capital of Bahrain Saturday. While the secretary's speech was generally well received, his vision of the country's future presented a point of controversy.
- 15 Dec 2008 - - Middle East Times - U.S. Wants Gulf to Buy into Missile Defense System
Several high ranking U.S. military and political officers attending a top-level security conference in Bahrain capital, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of CENTCOM and others promoted the idea, saying that such a project would be primarily aimed at deterring Iran from launching missiles, be they nuclear or conventional ones.
