07 February 2003
U.S., Egyptian Speakers Say Partnership Must Continue, Expand
(Mutual awareness of strains; unity against extremism) (1430) By Ralph Dannheisser Washington File Special Correspondent Washington -- U.S. and Egyptian officials have pronounced the relationship between the two countries sound, and vital for future progress in the Middle East, but acknowledged there are problems to be overcome. They outlined their views February 6 during an all-day conference on the prospects for a continued strategic partnership between the two nations, sponsored by "Foreign Policy," a magazine published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Some 300 people attending the conference heard Assistant Secretary of State William Burns declare that - given challenges ranging from dealing with Iraq, to the global war on terrorism, to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - there has never been a time "when that partnership has mattered more, or been the subject of more debate." He termed the results of a recent survey showing that 94 percent of Egyptians have an unfavorable view of the United States "a cause for sober reflection." Similarly, he said, many in the United States show a "palpable unease" about Egypt and the prospects for continued cooperation. But, citing what he termed "the genuine partnership" that has emerged between the two countries over the past 30 years, starting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's "heroic visit to Jerusalem" in quest of peace, Burns said it would be "a serious mistake to forget what it has meant for both of us, and for the hopes of the region." Burns said a continued partnership can revolve around joint action in four key areas: the fight against international terrorism, the effort to disarm Iraq and reintegrate it into the international community, establishment of a broad Arab-Israeli peace, and development of greater economic opportunity and political participation in Egypt. "Both of us, for all our differences, share fundamentally a vision of a region in which violent extremists are marginalized and defeated, in which tyrants who defy the international community are dealt with decisively, in which the Arab-Israeli conflict is finally resolved peacefully, fairly and comprehensively, and in which hope for greater economic opportunity and political participation replaces the despair on which extremists breed," the State Department official said. Addressing one sore spot in the relationship, Burns said he is aware that many in the region are concerned that rules requiring long-term visitors to the United States to register, effective in 2005, could "slam the door on the Arab and Muslim world." But he noted that many U.S. friends and allies - including Egypt - already have similar registration policies, and he pledged that "we will continue to do our best to strike an effective and workable balance between openness and security." Burns praised President Mubarak's announced intention to spur "more democracy, more popular participation, and more effective participation by women and youth." Achieving those laudable goals "will mean difficult but necessary decisions about the regulation of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), the press and political parties," the U.S. official said. While he devoted substantial attention to the "common concern" with the danger posed by Saddam Hussein, Burns said that the achievement of peace between the Arab world and Israel "remains our greatest regional challenge. He reiterated President Bush's vision of regional peace based on "two states, Israel and Palestine, living alongside one another in peace, security and dignity." Burns stressed that both sides have obligations in giving this vision reality -- key among them the need for Palestinians to "transform their leadership" and for responsible leaders to stop terror and violence that is "a road to disaster for everyone," and the offsetting need for Israel to "do more to ease the deepening humanitarian and economic crisis of Palestinians living under occupation" and to call a halt to settlement construction, "which has a corrosive effect on Palestinian hopes." The centrality of the Palestinian issue was highlighted, as well, in comments by Osama El Baz, a political advisor to President Mubarak. "It is in the interest of the United States to get a solution to the problem before it is too late," he said, adding, "Sometimes the lack of hope in the future can be very devastating." El Baz insisted that "the Arabs have no animosity against the Jewish people...and we have no animosity against the Israeli people." Rather, he contended, "We have certain differences...with the policies and practices of the State of Israel" that he said block a peace settlement. On the issue of terrorism, El Baz chided the United States for not providing enough early help in the war on terror, which, he said, "we entered long before you did." Some groups that were later described as terrorists were viewed by American officials as "former allies in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan... and that, I think, blurred the picture," he said. El Baz said he sees a danger in some Americans now "looking at the entire Arab nation" as part of the terrorist threat. "It would be a mistake of major proportions to take Osama bin Laden and like-minded people as spokesmen for Islam. These people don't speak for us," he declared. U.S. Middle East Envoy Anthony Zinni focused, in his remarks, on growing military cooperation under the "strategic partnership" between Egypt and the United States, one that he maintained "has never been stronger." He suggested Egyptian concerns that U.S. security assistance is inadequate are misplaced. "You will hear complaints (from Egypt of)...'Why can't we be just like Israel?'" Zinni said. "I wish I had a nickel for every country that said to me, 'Why can't we just be like Egypt?" The former head of the U.S. military's Central Command, he called Egypt "the most important country in the region" in strategic terms. As for the war on terrorism, Zinni said he backed El Baz's comments about the United States' late entry. "This region was warning us about this long before we suffered the blow on 9/11 (the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001). Many of us heard that call, and that alarm...but we weren't paying attention, and we should have been," he said. Broadening the focus, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as conference chairman, told the speakers and the audience that he had a reputation for "putting my foot in my mouth," then proceeded to make these points: --The United States is "searching for its role in this post-Cold War world, and we don't know what it is yet." Americans "worry a great deal about whether we are being excessive on occasion" as the world's sole superpower "and I think we have demonstrated that we are, on occasion." Moreover, the American people "are uncomfortable with unilateralism." --The Israeli-Palestinian issue comes up prominently in any discussion of U.S.-Egyptian relations. "There is an emotional relationship between the U.S. and Israel that simply cannot be ignored...If you expect too much of us in terms of the relationship with Israel, you are always going to be disappointed. There are limits in how far we are prepared to go, how far we can go...To some degree, at least, if you're looking toward a productive relationship, you've got to set that Israeli issue aside." --"In the end, there is only one nation that is going to be able at the proper time in the peace process to deliver Israel...and that's the United States." --"We have come to the terrorism issue late. No question about it...(El Baz) was quite right when he said that we had, on occasion, supported those who later on we wished we hadn't...(A policy based on) 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' is not always correct, and we are reaping the whirlwind from this right now." Gamal Mubarak, chief of policy for Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, the luncheon speaker, cited progress he said Egypt is making in reforming its economic and political systems. Despite inevitable disagreements with the United States on specifics, he said, "I think we can forge ahead not only on a government-to-government basis, but on a people-to-people basis, on the business society, on the civil society, even on political forces." A continued U.S.-Egyptian strategic relationship "is crucial," Mubarak declared, "for the stability of our part of the world - the Middle East - and even for the stability and peace and coexistence in the world at large." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
NEWSLETTER
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |