Obama's upcoming speech will spell out his Mideast rationale
LATIMES--Aides say the president wants to clarify the U.S. stance as facilitator, not instigator, of political change in the Arab world.
President Obama will seek to define his administration's stance toward the rapid changes in the Middle East and North Africa in a major address Thursday in which he will cast the U.S. as a facilitator rather than the instigator of political change in the Arab world.
As uprisings have swept through the region, Obama has been criticized from both the left and the right for taking too passive an approach. In Egypt, as demonstrators began demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally, the administration initially seemed to vacillate on its course, and ended up angering Mubarak's supporters as well as his opponents.
In Bahrain and Syria, the U.S. has largely remained on the sidelines as authoritarian regimes have sought to crush domestic opposition. And in Libya, the U.S. has backed the use of NATO military power against Moammar Kadafi's regime in a limited fashion.
Critics have said the administration is merely reacting to events and lacks an overall strategy. Obama's speech, aides say, will give the president an opportunity to lay out the rationale for his approach.
One senior administration official said Obama wanted to prevent critics of the Arab democracy movement from being able to accuse the U.S. of meddling. He wants the U.S. to be in a position to offer support for expression of the popular will without "inserting the U.S. into the process."
In that regard, Obama's policy contrasts sharply with that of the George W. Bush administration, which put great emphasis on the U.S. freedom to act unilaterally and use military force to pursue its foreign policy goals.
In his speech, Obama will praise the idea of nonviolent protest and call on Arab leaders to take the demands of their people seriously without further violence.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pointedly called on the Syrian government Tuesday to stop repressing its people, suggesting there is a limit to international tolerance.
Aides indicated the president might also use the speech to characterize Osama bin Laden, slain in a U.S. military assault early this month, as a figure of the past and the current uprisings as a repudiation of the Al Qaeda terrorist network's doctrine of violence.
Obama also will also discuss one of the region's defining disputes: the struggle between Israel and its Arab neighbors. He is expected to indicate that the administration will oppose a proposed U.N. resolution that would recognize Palestinian statehood and will emphasize the U.S. stance that direct talks between the parties, not unilateral efforts, are the best way to forge a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Continued…
Critics have said the administration is merely reacting to events and lacks an overall strategy. Obama's speech, aides say, will give the president an opportunity to lay out the rationale for his approach.
One senior administration official said Obama wanted to prevent critics of the Arab democracy movement from being able to accuse the U.S. of meddling. He wants the U.S. to be in a position to offer support for expression of the popular will without "inserting the U.S. into the process."
In that regard, Obama's policy contrasts sharply with that of the George W. Bush administration, which put great emphasis on the U.S. freedom to act unilaterally and use military force to pursue its foreign policy goals.
In his speech, Obama will praise the idea of nonviolent protest and call on Arab leaders to take the demands of their people seriously without further violence.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pointedly called on the Syrian government Tuesday to stop repressing its people, suggesting there is a limit to international tolerance.
Aides indicated the president might also use the speech to characterize Osama bin Laden, slain in a U.S. military assault early this month, as a figure of the past and the current uprisings as a repudiation of the Al Qaeda terrorist network's doctrine of violence.
Obama also will also discuss one of the region's defining disputes: the struggle between Israel and its Arab neighbors. He is expected to indicate that the administration will oppose a proposed U.N. resolution that would recognize Palestinian statehood and will emphasize the U.S. stance that direct talks between the parties, not unilateral efforts, are the best way to forge a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Continued…