October 9, 2007 11:52

Sneak Preview: America's Future Middle East Policy!

It's a safe bet that Rudy Giuliani isn't going for the Muslim vote. I've been trying to keep up with who is advising the U.S. presidential candidates on their Middle East policies, and here's what I've come up with so far.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has become a frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has appointed several prominent, strongly pro-Israel neo-conservatives to advise him on foreign policy and the Middle East. His message seems to be that Bush's policies for the region have worked pretty well, so let's have more of the same.

Listed as a "senior foreign policy team advisor" is prominent neocon Norman Podhoretz, who is the father-in-law of Bush Middle East advisor Elliott Abrams, and who recently published an essay in Commentary, where he is editor-at-large, titled "The Case for Bombing Iran."

Named as "senior Middle East advisor" is Martin Kramer. A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, a professor at Tel Aviv University for 25 years, he is now associated with the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Olin Institute at Harvard University. His biography describes him as an authority on contemporary Islam and Arab politics and notes that his popular website "offers alternative readings of Islam and the Arab world." He supported the Iraq war and cautions against democratization in the Arab world. Another recently appointed Middle East advisor is Daniel Pipes, a prolific author of books on political Islam. He is director of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia, which publishes Middle East Quarterly and sponsors activities such as Campus Watch, a group that monitors what is taught about the Middle East in U.S. universities. Pipes has ridiculed peace plans and called for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be settled by an Israeli victory that crushes the Palestinian will.

John McCain reaches back to the Nixon White House and to two former CIA directors for his foreign policy advice. His foreign policy advisors include James Schlesinger, who served as CIA chief and defense secretary; Robert McFarlane, a Reagan national security advisor during the 1983 Beirut Marines bombing who was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra Affair; and Clinton CIA director James Woolsey, who became a prominent supporter of Bush's 2003 Iraq invasion.

Mitt Romney’s policy director is Republican strategist, Washington lobbyist and former Minnesota congressman Vin Weber, who co-authored a bipartisan report for the Council on Foreign Relations entitled: "In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How." Weber is also a member of the neocon Project for the New American Century. In 1998, he co-signed a PNAC letter, along with other leading conservatives such as Elliott Abrams, John Bolton, William Kristol, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld, calling for "the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power [as] the aim of American foreign policy."

Barack Obama's choice of Zbigniew Brzezinski, who he calls "one of our most outstanding thinkers," as a foreign policy advisor has been criticized by some of Israel's supporters. Lately, they have been critical of Brzezinski's favorable comments about The Israel Lobby, the controversial book that asserts that pro-Israel interest groups have disproportionate influence on U.S. foreign policy and that this has undermined American interests. While some have branded the work as anti-Semitic, Brzezinski wrote that the authors "have rendered a public service by initiating a much needed public debate on the role of the 'Israel lobby' in the shaping of US foreign policy." Brzezinski, of course, was Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, presiding over policies such as those dealing with the Iran hostage crisis, the arming of Afghan rebels and the historic Camp David peace accords. Obama has said that he is also receiving advice from Dennis Ross, counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Ross was a key Middle East policymaker under Bush 41 and Clinton, whose efforts to mediate an Israel-Palestinian settlement broke down with a stalemate in Camp David talks and the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising. Ross has been strongly critical of Bush 43's disengagement from active Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, is advised by, among others, her husband former President Bill Clinton, who pursued policies in striking contrast to those of the subsequent Bush administration: containment of Iraq and Iran, extending a tentative olive branch to Iran during the Khatami presidency, and deep engagement in Middle East peacemaking. Her team includes veterans of Clinton's two terms, including his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former national security advisor Sandy Berger and ex-UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke, architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnia war.

More info as I find it; would especially welcome posts containing solid information about these and other presidential candidate advisors on Middle East policy.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo

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October 9, 2007 6:03

Iraq: For the Times They Are a-Changin'

"The United States and the United Kingdom have stood together since September the 11th, 2001, in order to combat this new form of global terrorism that we face... We have to complete our mission in Iraq, make sure that Iraq is a stable and a democratic country."

--British Prime Minister Tony Blair, comments at The White House, Nov. 12, 2004

"Prime Minister Blair is a visionary leader. I've come to know him as a man of unshakeable convictions. America's alliance with Great Britain has never been stronger, and we're working closely every day to spread that freedom that leads to peace... The United States and Great Britain have shown our determination to help Iraqis achieve their liberty and to defend the security of the world. We'll continue to stand with our friends, and we will finish the job."

--President Bush, comments at The White House, Nov. 12, 2004

"We plan, from next spring, to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2,500."

--British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Blair's successor), statement to parliament, House of Commons, Oct. 8, 2007

"The British troop pullout from Iraq announced yesterday leaves Basra, Iraq's second largest and most strategically important city, in near total chaos both politically and militarily. It comes at a time when at least four Shia militias are fighting over the city, which is surrounded by most of the nation's tremendous oil reserves and provides Iraq's only gateway to the sea."

--Timothy Phelps, reporting in Newsday, Oct. 9, 2007

The arc of events does not bode well for Bush's vision of Iraq. At the peak of the war in 2003, Britain had 46,000 troops in Iraq. But as the U.S. increased its forces over the past year, Britain has been scaling further back. Brown, of course, fears that if he doesn't get British troops out of an unpopular war, his Labour party risks losing the next election.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo

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