Friday, March 16, 2007
The US is ready to defend its interests in the Middle East for decades to come, even though the Iraq war has been tougher than expected, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.
Gates was speaking at a ceremony where Admiral William Fallon was formally installed as the new head of US Central Command, putting him in charge of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Gates said the United States will continue to stand by its allies in the region.
The US is "dedicated to strengthening those commitments and defending our interests for the decades to come. And we will do all in our power to protect and defend our homeland," he said.
Maybe I need a little remedial education, but isn't this claim about as useful as Bush's budget projections for 2012? We may run out of oil within several decades and have to switch to something else by then. I suspect our interest in the middle east will likely wain at that point. I also find it offensive and colonialistic for Gates to be making such strong statements.
Perhaps in 10 years we will have a president who decides to instead of spending a trillion long term on continuing wars to bribe the palestinians and the Israelis with the money, switch investment into alternative fuels, and to support economic development and growth throughout the reason which is a great way to kill fundamentalism.
Who am I kidding? He is right. We will be there for decades.
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