Gates has made a big push on how Al Qaeda and others are trying to foment conflict between India and Pakistan. Gates is pleading with them to not fall for this, and realize their joint enemy is Al Qaeda et al.
Gates' point about Al Qaeda trying to cause a regional conflict is questionable. What Al Qaeda would have to gain by such a conflict is a mystery. But, Gates does know that a defense of Israel requires at least neutrality toward Israel by mideast and asian nations.
Israel's illegitimate presence in the mideast will continue to provoke conflict. Moreover, Israel continually makes aggressive moves toward the Palestinians and its neighbors in a misconceived effort to defend itself.
The Israelis target-of-concern nowadays is Iran. Israel has been seeking US support for a military confrontation with Iran for more than a couple of years. The US, for its part, has preferred to try to undermine Iran through CIA sponsored internal conflict. When this US strategy runs its course with no appreciable results, the US will be stuck with the Israeli alternative of direct engagement with Iran.
Enter Gates and his attempt to line-up two asian and mideast powerhouses against Arab militancy. When a confrontation with Iran occurs, it will be a big help to the US and Israel if the major players in the region don't get in the way.
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BTW, shouldn't the Secretary of State be involved in these kinds of discussions? Well, no. Obama smartly prefers to keep Hillary Clinton involved only with secondary issues.
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