ゲーツ国防長官は、木曜日（02aug2007, Thu）、４日間の中東訪問の国防長官機中で、記者団に向けて、イラクの政治的な改革について、楽観視し過ぎていたと 語りました。

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Gates: Iraq Political Reform Difficult

Thursday, August 02, 2007
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - U.S. officials underestimated how difficult it would be for the Iraqi government to pass political reforms, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, saying the "depth of mistrust" among factions is greater than anticipated.

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Talking to reporters on board his plane as he returned from a four-day swing through the Middle East, Gates said he is more optimistic about improvements in security in the embattled nation than he is about getting legislation passed by the bitterly divided government.

"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," Gates said. "The kinds of legislation they're talking about will establish the framework of Iraq for the future so it's almost like our constitutional convention. ... And the difficulty in coming to grips with those, we may all have underestimated six or eight months ago."

ゲーツ国防長官とライス国務長官は、連れだってエジプトとサウジアラビアを訪問、その後ライス国務長官はイスラエルに向かい、ゲーツ国防長官はクエートと UAE へと向かいました。

ゲーツ長官のコメントは、木曜日イラクの内閣でマリキ首相に抗議して、６名のスンニ派閣僚が内閣を去った後に 述べられたモノです。イラクの政治改革の難しさを目の当たりにしてはじめて、昨年末から年初にかけてイラク情勢を相当楽観していたと悟るようでは、遅すぎます。