Gates: Iran “Doing Nothing To Be Constructive “

I was a bit concerned when Robert Gates took over as Secretary of Defense. His earlier history indicated that he might be willing to consider talking to Iran. He is, however, exceeding my expectations in that regard. Not only is he not trying to talk to Iran, he is flat-out saying that the conditions that made him originally hopeful in that regard no longer exist. And he appears to be more than willing to apply pressure and keep it up.

"The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways," Gates told reporters at NATO headquarters before flying to Kabul to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and to visit U.S. soldiers and commanders……

……In Brussels, Gates indicated that Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability was part of the reason the Pentagon decided last week to send a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot anti-missile battalion to the Gulf area. Patriots defend against shorter-range missiles of the type that Iran could use to target U.S. forces in the area. The Pentagon has not said exactly where the Patriots will be based.

The second aircraft carrier gives the U.S. more flexibility and serves as a reminder of U.S. firepower.

Laying out his concerns about Iran, Gates cited Iranian support for the radical Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. He also asserted that the Iranians "are doing nothing to be constructive in Iraq at this point." Other U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing sophisticated bomb-making materials to insurgent groups in Iraq.

Gates said that as recently as 2004 the Iranians were "actually doing some things to be helpful" in Iraq, at a time when they felt concern at the presence of U.S. troops on their western and eastern borders, in Iraq and Afghanistan. At that point he felt diplomatic dialogue would be useful.

"None of those conditions apply any longer," Gates said, responding to reporters' questions about the reasoning behind the Pentagon's decision announced last week to dispatch a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot missile battalion to the Gulf area. Neither move seemed directly to Iraq.

The pressure may well be doing some good, as I posted earlier. In honor of a little pressure, what is arguably the most famous opening bass riff in history:

UPDATE: Jules Crittenden thinks that there may be pressure in Iraq as well.