By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 3, 2007

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Aug. 2 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that U.S. officials had underestimated how difficult it would be for Iraqi leaders to make progress toward reconciliation, but said he remained optimistic about the security situation in Iraq.

Wrapping up a week-long trip to the Middle East during which he met with leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, Gates told reporters traveling with him that a highly anticipated report to Congress next month on progress in Iraq would likely have to weigh security improvements in some areas against the failure of the Iraqi political system to pass legislation that would promote national reconciliation.

"I think the developments on the political side are somewhat discouraging at the national level," Gates said. "And clearly the withdrawal of the Sunnis from the government is discouraging. My hope is it can all be patched together. In some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation, which, let's face it, is not some kind of secondary thing."

This week Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reached out to Iraq's neighbors to discuss how to stabilize the country at war as well as promote lasting stability in the region. Gates said the Bush administration is working actively to get Persian Gulf states involved in thwarting Iran.

Defense officials said they received strong interest from several countries in joining multilateral efforts on air and missile defense and counterterrorism.

Gates likened his trip -- his first visits to Kuwait and Abu Dhabi -- to gardening, in that its results would take time.

"The only way you deal with the threat we face from al-Qaeda or from Iran and these other places is to have a policy in place that has bipartisan support and that can be sustained through multiple administrations," Gates said. "So when I talk about gardening, it may be the next administration or the administration after that that harvests all this."

Defense officials said there was frank discussion with Saudi leaders, who have bristled at recent accusations that they have not been helpful in dealing with the sectarian strife that has divided Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. As an indication of their willingness to work with the United States, Saudi officials said after the meetings that they are now looking to open an embassy in Baghdad and would seriously consider attending a Middle East peace conference.

Gates said one topic on which the regional leaders agreed was Iran. "In terms of concern with Iran, there was no difference of opinion," he said.

Gates said Iran engages in "activities that are contrary to the interests" of virtually all the countries he visited this week, as well as the United States and Iraq. He said the world cannot afford to wait years for the Tehran government to try to change its policies.

"The more countries in the world that cooperate in the U.N. sanctions and in bringing pressures to bear on this government -- that its policies are antithetical to the interests of all its neighbors -- the better off we'll be," Gates said. "So it's really not so much of containment as we all need to work together. There's not really room for bystanders here."