In my capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, I returned two days ago from the Middle East, specifically visiting Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. Accompanying me were two of my top Foreign Affairs Committee staffers.
There has obviously been a tremendous amount of change going on in the Middle East in recent months. The uprisings began in Tunisia, spreading to Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen (and we’d like to see regime change in Iran). Also, independent of my trip, a courageous group of Navy Seals killed the person responsible for the worst attack on U.S. soil in American history – Osama bin Laden. (Good riddance).
Back to the trip. We started off in Israel, and Israelis have been watching with great interest the uprisings in countries around them, because their security could be directly affected. Both Egypt and Syria border Israel, and the Israelis are particularly concerned that the new government in Egypt might not uphold the treaty between Egypt and Israel, which has kept the peace between these two neighbors for nearly 40 years.
In our meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he expressed particular alarm with the agreement just announced between Hamas in Gaza, and Fatah which is the ruling party in the West Bank. He indicated there was no way that Israel would negotiate with Hamas, which is considered by both Israel and the United States to be a terrorist organization. I agree with him.
He also said Iran continues to be the greatest existential threat to Israel. I agree with him on this count as well. Iran seems to be bound and determined to move forward with their nuclear program. In my opinion, we must pressure the Europeans to increase meaningful sanctions against Iran in an effort to get Iran to back off their nuclear program. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that even this is unlikely to have the desired effect on Iran, and therefore reluctantly believe that eventually the only thing which will get rid of Iran’s nuclear program is military action by the U.S. or by Israel, or both.
During the Israel leg of the trip, we traveled into Ramallah, (in the West Bank) to meet directly with the Palestinian leadership, specifically with Prime Minister Salem Fayyad. As Palestinians go, most people in the know agree that he has been a positive force for rooting out corruption and working towards peace, although it appears that Hamas wants to elbow him out of the way.
In Jordan the most significant thing I did was visit the Jordanian International Police Training Center. One of their claims to fame is that they trained over 50,000 Iraqi Security Forces to maintain stability in Iraq. We saw them training Palestinians who will be responsible for keeping the peace in the West Bank.
Our last stop was Egypt. After President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign from power in Egypt, the military became the transitional power until elections are held, most likely in September. I met with the top Generals, some of whom I’ve known for many years, having met with them in the United States and on previous trips to the Middle East.
I also met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi (he’s the equivalent of our Secretary of State) and his attitude was particularly troubling. His goal seems to be to move the “new Egypt” closer to Iran and Hamas, despite Israel and the United States’ grave misgivings. I attempted to impress upon him that this was a mistake, and that it could jeopardize U.S. military and economic aide in the future (which many Americans oppose anyway, particularly in these tough economic, budget-cutting times) but I’m not sure he gets it.
Also while in Egypt we met with the local American Chamber of Commerce. (Procter and Gamble has a major factory just outside Cairo, and they sell products throughout the Middle East and Africa. They are building the largest diaper factory in the Middle East there.)
And we met with a number of the leaders of the uprising on Tahrir Square, who were most responsible for President Hosni Mubarak’s fall, after 30 years of authoritarian rule. Most of them are quite young, idealistic, and unfortunately in some cases, pretty naive. However, since these young people are probably the future of Egypt, it’s important that we get to know them, as historically Egypt has been viewed by most other Arab countries and by the United States as the most important Arab country in the Middle East, and therefore, to some extent, “as goes Egypt, goes the Middle East.”
Now, the death of Osama bin Laden. Tremendous news for all Americans, and those who cherish freedom around the world. The credit goes to our military, particularly the brave Navy Seals and the intelligence personnel who made it possible.
A few thoughts. Critical information which made it possible was obtained through enhanced interrogation tactics, i.e. water-boarding. Only three top al-Qaeda people were water-boarded (not at Guantanamo Bay I might add), and important information such as Osama bin Laden’s couriers which led to the final determination as to where he was, was obtained through this method. My position, we shouldn’t use it willy-nilly, but it ought to be available to use against terrorists targets in some cases.
And conspiracy theorists in the Middle East, and around the world, will likely spread the myth that he’s not really dead, just adding to his legend. Release a death photo, just as we did with Saddam Hussein’s two sons Uday and Qusay, and with Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, when we got him. Likewise the tape of Saddam Hussein’s hanging was made public so we don’t have stories out there that he’s still alive and will come back to power. (Granted, the hanging itself should have been handled with more care, as Shia opponents were chanting derisive things at him during the hanging – not that he didn’t deserve it, but it just looked rather unseemly.)
Finally, whereas the killing of bin Laden is an important victory in the war on terror, it’s not the end of the war. Other militant Jihadi terrorists will likely take his place. We must be vigilant and prepare to defend against future attacks by al-Qaeda. Savor the victory, but the enemy is still out there.
God Bless America.
