Robert Gates actually said...
I would say, there's one other reason why I think we would need to do this, and that is because one of the elements of the intelligence that contributed to the decision on the Phased Adaptive Approach was the realization that if Iran were actually to launch a missile attack on Europe it wouldn't be just one or two missiles or a handful; it would more likely be a salvo kind of attack.
Context
Gates discusses the potential scale of a missile attack from Iran on Europe.
06/16/2010