Tuesday, November 4, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will embark on a Mideast tour one day after the election as President George Bush prepares to brief his successor on U.S. policies and commitments in the region. On Nov. 5, the U.S. secretary intends to begin the tour with stops in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf states.
Analysts, including advisers to McCain and Obama, said the next administration would face challenges in Iran, Iraq as well as the need to maintain oil stability. They said Iran would continue to mark a major debate within the White House and Congress.
"Regarding Iran — a threat to regional stability and an existential concern for Israel — the United States and its allies should pursue a preventive strategy that involves tasty carrots and big sticks," Richard Danzig, a senior adviser to Obama said.
"Washington should not rely on a fundamentally risky strategy of deterrence. The Bush administration's policy of refusing to talk to Tehran has failed, and the regime has continued to produce enriched uranium."
Danzig said any Democratic administration must revise U.S. policy toward Iran. Danzig, a former secretary of the navy, said the next president must be willing to negotiate a resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
"The next president will face a daunting array of challenges in the broader Middle East: preventing terrorist attacks, stemming weapons proliferation, maintaining the free flow of oil, and protecting U.S. allies from Afghanistan to Israel," Max Boot, McCain's senior foreign policy adviser, told a conference by the Washington Institute.
"The president's priority is domestic, and the Middle East is right now about maintaining stability and leaving key issues for the next administration," an official said.
Officials said Bush has ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to prepare files for his successor on such issues as Arab-Israeli peace, a Palestinian state, Iraq, Iran, Libya and other issues related to the Middle East.
They said the president wants any successor to be able to continue U.S. policy and implement commitments of the outgoing administration.
"While in the region she will meet with her Quartet counterparts and senior government officials to discuss efforts to achieve positive and lasting peace in the region consistent with the Annapolis process and the shared-goal of a two-state solution," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Officials said the U.S. goal of a Palestinian state in 2009 would be a focus of the administration. They said U.S. security coordinator James Jones has concluded a report that would outline Israeli security requirements in the formation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank. Jones was expected to remain in his post under any next administration.
Ms. Rice was expected to visit Gulf Cooperation Council states for the last time under the Bush administration. Officials acknowledged that several GCC states, particularly Saudi Arabia, have reduced contacts with the secretary.
"There is a lot of resentment by some Gulf Arabs for the secretary's recommendation to engage with Iran," the official said.
Officials said Bush had ordered the U.S. intelligence community to brief presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama on Middle East and other major issues. They said Bush wanted to ensure that the candidates were updated on threats to the United States, particularly concerning Al Qaida.
"What we proposed to the administration is give us the opportunity to tee up intelligence substance to the leading candidates before the conventions," U.S. National Intelligence director Michael McConnell said.
"We came up with 13 topics. If you made a list, you'd probably get 11 or 12 of the 13. It's the nominal things you would expect. We made those available to the campaigns."