U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned the United States' enemies on Saturday against trying to take advantage of the early months of the new Washington administration to test U.S. resolve. Gates also said the United States would stay deeply involved in the Middle East and the Gulf under Barack Obama's administration. "I can assure you that a change in administration does not alter our fundamental interests, especially in the Middle East," he told a regional security conference in Bahrain.
Many foreign policy experts, including vice-president elect Sen. Joe Biden, have suggested enemies of the United States will try to provoke a crisis early in Obama's term while the new administration is still finding its feet.
Gates, who will stay on under Obama, said extensive planning had gone into preparing for the transition.
"Anyone who thought that the upcoming months might present opportunities to test the new administration would be sorely mistaken," he told the Manama Dialogue conference, organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. "President Obama and his national security team, myself included, will be ready to defend the interests of the United States from the moment he takes office on January 20th," Gates said.