May 19th, 2011

From the "WE SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED...BUT" FILES: TOP US PRIORITY ACCORDING TO OBAMA: Promoting Democracy in the Middle East

Posted by: Conservative Refocus
Published on May 19th, 2011 @ 01:34:52 pm , using 1278 words

Posted in Events and Issues: Credible Resources

The Washington Post

By Scott Wilson and William Branigin, Thursday, May 19, 12:21 PM

Under pressure from key allies to act more decisively on several volatile issues in the Middle East and North Africa, President Obama on Thursday promised new U.S. aid to nations that embrace democracy, condemned attacks on demonstrators and made a strong pitch for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal based on permanent and secure borders for two states.

Saying that the future of the United States is bound to the region in a number of ways, Obama said he was focused on “how we can respond in a way that advances our values and strengthens our security.”

In what was billed as a major speech meant to define U.S. interests in the region amid the wave of change known as the Arab Spring, Obama unveiled a series of economic initiatives to encourage democracy there, including aid for Tunisia and a total of $2 billion in debt relief and loan guarantees for Egypt’s fledgling government.

Speaking at the State Department before an audience of U.S. diplomats, administration officials and foreign envoys, Obama made his first broad attempt to place the region’s wave of popular uprisings, which have swept away autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt and threatened several others, in the context of American interests and values. Aides said he felt it was important to address the armed rebellion in Libya, the uprising in Syria and the moribund peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

In addition to denouncing the repression of protests in Libya, Syria and Iran, Obama criticized U.S. friends in the region, notably Yemen and Bahrain, where demonstrations have been met with gunfire and arrests. He did not, however, mention Saudi Arabia, which brooks no political dissent and has sent troops to aid the beleaguered monarchy in neighboring Bahrain.

Obama sought to tie the Arab Spring upheavals to a need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying he strongly disagrees with those who say it is not possible to move forward now on a peace settlement.

“At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent than ever,” he said.

Chiding both the Palestinians and Israelis for contributing to what he called an “unsustainable” status quo, Obama argued that the basis for new peace talks is clear: “a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel.” He added: “The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.”

He also called for provisions to “prevent a resurgence of terrorism, to stop the infiltration of weapons, and to provide effective border security” for Israel.

The speech was aimed in part at reassuring allies alarmed by what they perceive as drift in Obama’s policy in the rapidly changing region, after weeks when Osama bin Laden’s killing and a domestic debate over the national debt took center stage.

It comes a day after Obama announced new financial sanctions against seven senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses, naming President Bashar al-Assad among them for the first time.

Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, also phoned Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on Wednesday to urge him to accept an Arab-brokered agreement that would usher him from office within a month.

Drawing on the findings of an internal White House study of democratic transitions from Latin America to Southeast Asia, Obama proposed a set of economic policy prescriptions to help ensure that democratic governments take hold in the Middle East and North Africa, tapping the potential of the region’s young people.

In addition to the debt relief and loan guarantees for Egypt, the proposals are designed to encourage economic reform, trade liberalization, educational support and training to improve private-sector management practices, as well as financial help from lending institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which played a key role in Eastern Europe’s transition to democracy.

Briefing reporters before Obama’s speech, a senior administration official said it “comes at a moment of opportunity for the region and for U.S. policy in the region.”

“We’re obviously coming off a decade of great tension and division across the region,” the official said. “Now, having wound down the Iraq war and continuing to do so, and having taken out Osama bin Laden, we’re trying to turn the page to a more positive future for U.S. policy in the region.”

The speech serves as the rhetorical centerpiece of a busy period of Middle East diplomacy for Obama, beginning in Washington and moving next week to the Group of Eight summit of economic powers in France.

Obama met Tuesday with a key Arab ally, King Abdullah II of Jordan, who Arab diplomats say lobbied the president to use his address to outline a specific blueprint for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Obama, who is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday at the White House, inaugurated a new round of peace talks last year, only to see them collapse within weeks.

Netanyahu has argued that violence in Syria, the new Palestinian unity agreement and the changes in Egypt create too much uncertainty for peace talks to begin soon.

U.S. officials have also said it is too early to tell what kind of Palestinian government will emerge from the agreement between the secular Fatah movement, which recognizes Israel, and Hamas, the armed Islamist movement designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told reporters Wednesday that “it would be sad, given the president’s commitment on these issues since the beginning, to see Middle East peace pushed aside. It is very easy to make an excuse not to move forward. It takes statesmanship and conviction to move forward despite difficulties.”

Obama is also being asked to do more in North Africa. European diplomats have said this week that Obama, when he visits Britain and France next week, should expect to hear requests for help in escalating the military campaign against Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

After carrying out the initial phase of military airstrikes, Obama turned over control to NATO, placed U.S. warplanes on standby and sent in armed Predator drones. The rebellion has largely stalled on the ground, and some European diplomats say more American help is needed to hit Gaddafi’s command-and-control sites.

“The French and the British might, as they have in the past, ask for a stronger U.S. military commitment in Libya,” said a European diplomat familiar with the G-8 agenda who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Obama hesitated to fully back the anti-government demonstrations as they unfolded in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, following some European leaders in calling for regime change. He also has cautiously championed reform, but not a change in government, in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where the United States has more-potent interests in maintaining the status quo.

Staff writer Joby Warrick contributed to this report.

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