Perhaps the MSM decided to bury this, but the Swedish paper Svenska Dagbladet is reporting that Gates has said that we are "... staying in the Middle East" and that, (translating from the article which appears to be a loose quote:)
The US has increased its military presence in the Persian Gulf. The intention is to make clear for countries in the region that the US will play a role there for a long time to come, says the new defense minister Robert Gates.
So much for the democracy of a democracy exporting country...
continued below...
This has nothing to do with a reaction to Iran's behavior, clarified Gates today after a three day visit to Iraq.
The tv station CBS reported this Monday that the US would send an additional aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf to discourage Tehran from provocation.
Gates - who on the same day officially suceeded defense minister Donald Rumsfeld - confirmed that another aircraft carrier would be sent to the area.
loose quotes:
You can probably not say that this is in response to something somone has done, he said to journalists.
The message we are sending to everyone, not only Iran, is that the US is thinking about staying a good while in this part of the world.
We have been here for a long time, will stay here for a long time, and it is important that everyone remembers that - both our friends and those who perhaps consider themselves as our adversaries.
The officials of the American Middle East operations has asked the defense headquarters the Pentagon to send an additional aricraft carrier to the Persian Gulf as a warning to Syria and Iran, states a high ranking official inside the American armed forces.
The center of command in the region wants to have the Aircraft carrier there before the end of March for "discouraging" and "increased flexibility," said the official.
Yes, it is buried, three lines in a semi-unrelated article on Iraq- Gates Plans Report to Bush on Iraq:
On Iran, Gates told reporters there has been an increase in Naval forces in the Persian Gulf. But he denied that it was a direct reaction to any movements by Iran to pursue a nuclear program.
Instead, Gates said, the message to the Gulf countries is that the United States is going to be an enduring presence in the region.
"We've been here for a long time and we will be here for a long time," he said.
The rest of the article is the same b.s. almost comical:
As the president weighs a course correction in the increasingly unpopular war, the White House also announced that Bush would convene a meeting of his full National Security Council next Thursday during a several-day stay at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. That session was not designed to arrive at final decisions, but to continue to whittle down the options, Perino said.
Before leaving Baghdad, Gates declined to say whether he plans to recommend a short-term increase in U.S. troop levels. But he said he believes the U.S. and Iraqis have "a broad strategic agreement between the Iraqi military and Iraqi government and our military."
...
Speaking to reporters at Camp Victory, with the sounds of artillery fire and jet aircraft in the background, Gates said that "clearly there are more discussions that need to take place in Washington and more specific recommendations."