Gates sympathise et calme le jeu avec habileté

Le secrétaire US à la défense Robert Gates, qui se trouvait à la conférence de Munich (“43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy”, ex-Wehrkunde), a parlé hier et tout le monde a jugé que son discours était une réponse à celui de Poutine. Ce n’est pas notre avis. Poutine a parlé du problème fondamental de civilisation que les USA posent au monde, Gates a parlé de Poutine en tant qu’homme politique et Président de la Russie. Le discours de Poutine était stratégique, celui de Gates tactique.

Gates a montré de l’humour et de la bienséance. Manifestement, il entend se démarquer de Rumsfeld, d’une façon presque abrupte qui éclaire d’un jour brutal les interventions de son prédécesseur. Il a nettement expédié aux oubliettes les brutales catégorisations de son prédécesseur (plus de “vieille” et de “new Europe”, plus que des amis européens). Dans l’audience, à Munich, on était rassuré, on a cru revivre le bon vieux temps, quand les amis américains y mettaient les formes.

On se demande ce que fait exactement Robert Gates au cœur de l’administration GW. Il semble appartenir à un monde disparu, celui des habiletés américanistes, celui d’une complicité culturelle transatlantique, celui des “bons rapports malgré tout” avec les Soviétiques (pardon, les Russes). Gates est un rescapé de la Guerre froide, lorsque la diplomatie américaniste prenait encore des gants. Il ne manque ni d’habileté ni de savoir-faire et attire la sympathie.

Un extrait de ce qui est d’abord un portrait du personnage dans l’International Herald Tribune d’aujourd’hui.

«Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a measured response to aggressive criticism of American power from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told a European security conference here Sunday, “One Cold War was quite enough.”

»While government leaders, legislative members and military officials here continued dissecting the speech Putin gave Saturday to divine its motivation and impact, Gates chose words of velvet and not steel in offering Washington's fullest response.

»“As an old Cold Warrior, one of yesterday's speeches almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time,” Gates said. He paused for effect before adding, “Almost.”

(…)

»Gates, a former director of central intelligence called from retirement in academia to serve as defense secretary, said at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy that both he and Putin had spent most of their careers in their respective governments' spy agencies.

»“And, I guess, old spies have a habit of blunt speaking,” Gates said. “However, I have been to re-education camp — spending four and a half years as a university president and dealing with faculty.” His remark drew laughs and applause.

»Throughout his rebuttal of the Russian president's speech, and in a longer discourse on how America's European allies must help rebuild Afghanistan and remain vigilant in the fight against global terrorism, Gates mentioned Putin only once by name and then to say he had accepted an invitation from him to visit Moscow.

»“Russia is a partner in endeavors,” Gates added. “But we wonder, too, about some Russian policies that seem to work against international stability, such as its arms transfers and its temptation to use energy resources for political coercion.”

»The only official Russian response in Munich to Gates's comments came from Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, a Putin confidant, who said that Moscow's relations with the United States and Europe were “so mature that we are free to speak what we really think.”»

Mis en ligne le 12 février 2007 à 05H40