Major Arab allies of the U.S. cautioned today against a rapid troop withdrawal from Iraq that could shake the region, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Egypt. The concerns were aired in meetings that Gates and Rice had in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and top officials from Jordan and Persian Gulf countries.Gates said he told the Arab governments that there was an increasing appreciation in Washington across "the entire spectrum of people,'' including those who seek a quick withdrawal of troops, that the next U.S. move in Iraq should be measured. "However it's done, it needs to be done carefully and with a view toward consequences and that we need not leave Iraq in chaos, in a way that will be destabilizing in the region,'' Gates said.
Gates said the Egyptian leadership is concerned ``that the United States will somehow withdraw precipitously from Iraq'' and harm the entire region...