For the context of the Gates speech described here, see Putin: US Making the World More Dangerous; US Responds.
"Gates: Prisoner Abuse Scandals Hurt US," by Lolita C. Baldor - AP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007
MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay and other mistakes have damaged America's reputation, and work must be done to prove the U.S. is still a force for good in the world.
While he did not mention the war in Iraq, he told a conference of top security officials from around the world that the U.S. has to do a better job of explaining its policies and actions.
For the last century most people believed that "while we might from time to time do something stupid, that we were a force for good in the world," Gates said.
And while he said a lot of people still believe that, he added, "I think we also have made some mistakes and have not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that."...
"US Does Not Want New Cold War: Defence Chief," by Jim Mannion - AFP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has deflected a stinging broadside against the United States by Russian President Vladimir Putin, declaring: "One Cold War was quite enough."
The new US defence chief used wry humour in his debut speech Sunday to an international security conference to deflate Putin's portrayal of the United States before the same audience as a dangerous, destabilising world power.
Gates also sought to mend fences with Europeans alienated by his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld. He acknowledged past US mistakes and said Washington needed to do a better job of explaining its policies....
He said that scandals at the Guantanamo US "war on terror" prison and at US-run jails in Iraq have damaged the reputation of the United States, but he defended trials of terrorist suspects by special military commissions as legitimate.
"While I don't have any doubt that in certain quarters there may be anti-American propaganda. But I think we also have made some mistakes, and not presented our case as well as we'd like in many instances."
"I think we have more work to do in terms of restrengthening American soft power around the world."...
Added 12 February:
DOD now has the text of Gates' speech to the Munich Conference on Security Policy and a report on the Q-and-A session that followed it posted to its website. Gates made the remarks about Guantanamo and the need for the US to explain itself better in the Q-and-A session.
"Gates Fields Broad-Ranging Questions from International Security Experts," by Linda D. Kozaryn (in Munich, Germany) - American Forces Press Service (US DOD), 11 February 2007
...In answer to a question on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Gates said some activities there, as well as abuses that have taken place in Iraq, have negatively impacted the reputation of the United States. “There’s no question that most of us would like to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo,” he said.
The secretary admitted he doesn’t know if there are more people there who should be released, but U.S. officials are going through the process of trying to find out.“If we can get people to take those who can and should be released, that would be a good thing,” he said. “(But) we have had some difficulty in that respect.”
“It is also true, though, that there are real terrorists at Guantanamo,” Gates stressed....
Gates agreed with one participant that anti-Americanism is evident in certain quarters. The United States has made some mistakes, he said, “and not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that.”
Although the United States’ reputation as a force for law and order, human rights and human advancement has been sullied, it can be restored, he said. “For the last century, one of the great assets the United States has had is that most people around the world felt that (even though) from time to time we might do something stupid, we were a force for good in the world,” Gates said. “I believe a lot of people still believe that.
“What we have to focus on as we look to the future,” he concluded, “is strengthening that reputation we have had for a century, and perhaps doing a better job of explaining what we’re trying to do in the world.”
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