Washington, April 19: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates moves for damage control amid revelations that he advocated the use of military action against Iran in a top secret memo.
In the classified three-page memorandum, which crept into public view on Sunday, Gates had reportedly warned the White House that it lacks an effective long-term plan for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program and should therefore come up with new options, including the use of military force.
The memo has reportedly been circulating among Washington officials since January, The New York Times reported late Saturday.
Only hours after the report’s publication, Gates released a statement acknowledging that he sent a memo to the White House earlier in January, but the content of it was seriously taken out of context in the report released by the Times.
According to Gates, the memo merely outlined the “next steps in the US defense planning process” for Iran and the Times had “mischaracterized” its purpose and substance when it suggested Gates had despaired that the administration lacked a strategy for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program.
“The memo was not intended as a ‘wake up call’ or received as such by the President’s national security team,” The Washington Post quoted Gates as saying.
“Rather, it presented a number of questions and proposals intended to contribute to an orderly and timely decision making process,” he added.
The Tehran government has shrugged off Washington’s decision to keep a military option close to hand. In a Sunday ceremony marking the National Army Day in Tehran, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country will respond to any military attack with all its might.
——-Agencies