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nuary 30, 2011 Clinton Calls for ‘Orderly Transition’ in Egypt
By MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Sunday for “an orderly transition to meet the democratic and economic needs of the people” in Egypt, stopping short of asking its embattled president, Hosni Mubarak, to resign, but laying the groundwork for his departure.
Mrs. Clinton, making a round of Sunday talk shows, said Mr. Mubarak’s future was up to the Egyptian people. But she said on “State of the Union” on CNN that the United States stood “ready to help with the kind of transition that will lead to greater political and economic freedom.”
Speaking more bluntly than administration officials have so far, Mrs. Clinton said Mr. Mubarak’s appointment of a vice president was only the “bare beginning” of a process that must include a government dialogue with the protesters and “free, fair, and credible” elections, scheduled for September.
She described the elections for a “next president” as an “action-enforcing event that is already on the calendar.”
“We have been very clear that we want to see a transition to democracy,” Mrs. Clinton said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And we want to see the kind of steps taken to bring that about. We want to see an orderly transition.”
The administration has walked a fine line in recent days, balancing its alliance with Mr. Mubarak, the staunchest American ally in the Arab world, with its desire not to be on the wrong side of history, as enraged demonstrators rise up in revolt against Mr. Mubarak’s autocratic rule.
But Mrs. Clinton’s comments, on a day when Egyptian fighter jets buzzed vast crowds in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and looters set fire to shopping malls and damaged antiquities in a Cairo museum, suggested that the administration was running out of patience with Mr. Mubarak.
She noted tartly that the United States had been imploring him to appoint a vice president for three decades. And she offered no endorsement of the man he named to that post on Saturday, Omar Suleiman, the head of Egyptian intelligence, whom she has met several times in Cairo and Washington.
“There are some new people taking responsibility,” Mrs. Clinton said on the CBS program, “Face the Nation.” “We hope they can contribute to the kind of economic and democratic reforms that the people of Egypt deserve.”
President Obama also voiced support for an “orderly transition” in Egypt that is responsive to the aspirations of Egyptians in phone calls with foreign leaders, the White House said on Sunday. Mr. Obama spoke by phone to British Prime Minister David Cameron, as he had on Saturday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“During his calls,” a spokesman said, “the president reiterated his focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, association, and speech; and supporting an orderly transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.”
The White House has refrained from calling publicly for Mr. Mubarak to step down, officials said on Saturday, because it worried about losing its leverage over him and about contributing to a political vacuum in Egypt, which could be filled by extremist, anti-American forces.
Indeed, Mrs. Clinton reaffirmed the longstanding ties between the United States and Egypt. She said the administration did not plan to cut off nearly $1.5 billion military and economic aid to the country, softening the White House’s announcement on Friday that it would review assistance to Egypt, based on how the police and army handled the protests in coming days.
Mrs. Clinton said the army appeared to be acting with restraint, differentiating between peaceful protesters and looters. But she warned that Egypt could not make changes that resulted in the creation of a democracy for “six months or a year, evolving into a military dictatorship.”
Even as she spoke on ABC’s “This Week,” images of fighter jets roaring above the head of protesters in Cairo appeared on television, and Mrs. Clinton acknowledged an “incredibly complex set of circumstances.”
She had taped her interviews before leaving on a day-trip to Haiti, where she will confront another country in political upheaval, with recent presidential elections mired in charges of vote-rigging and fraud, as well as the surprise return of a former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Yet for all its poignancy and misery, Haiti poses much less of a problem to the administration than Egypt in chaos, given Egypt’s role at the fulcrum of one of the world’s most volatile regions. With the revolt in Tunisia that overthrew its president, and growing protests in Yemen and Jordan, the United States is facing upheaval in several crucial countries.
“This is the Obama administration’s first foreign policy crisis in real time,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator in the Clinton administration. “Their response is marked by bad options, precarious outcomes, and limited influence to shape – let alone direct — events.”
But Senator John McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, laid out a scenario on “State of the Union” that he said left open the prospect of success if certain conditions were met: Mr. Mubarak agrees not to seek re-election, turns over his government to a caretaker, and insures “a free, open, transparent election in September.” “But this is a narrow window of opportunity,” Mr. McCain said. “The longer unrest exists, the more likely it is to become extreme.”
Two former senior American diplomats, not under the weight of discretion faced by a serving as secretary of state, predicted that Mr. Mubarak’s political demise was only a matter of time.
“He’s become a symbol for everything that they find objectionable,” said Edward Walker, a former ambassador to Egypt, said on CNN, referring to the rage on Egyptian streets. John Negroponte, the former ambassador to the United Nations, said he agreed that Mr. Mubarak’s days in office were numbered.
Mr. Walker said he did not expect a rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic opposition group that Mr. Mubarak’s government has long suppressed, and he said that to suggest a parallel to the Iranian revolution of 1979 was “a way overreach.”
Mr. Negroponte seemed a bit less sanguine. “We have a lot of examples of disasters that have followed after the demise of an authoritarian leader,” he said. “If this goes wrong it could be very bad for our interests.”
He added, “ I don’t think we should be in that big of a hurry for the regime to change.”
Brian Knowlton contributed reporting.
By MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Sunday for “an orderly transition to meet the democratic and economic needs of the people” in Egypt, stopping short of asking its embattled president, Hosni Mubarak, to resign, but laying the groundwork for his departure.
Mrs. Clinton, making a round of Sunday talk shows, said Mr. Mubarak’s future was up to the Egyptian people. But she said on “State of the Union” on CNN that the United States stood “ready to help with the kind of transition that will lead to greater political and economic freedom.”
Speaking more bluntly than administration officials have so far, Mrs. Clinton said Mr. Mubarak’s appointment of a vice president was only the “bare beginning” of a process that must include a government dialogue with the protesters and “free, fair, and credible” elections, scheduled for September.
She described the elections for a “next president” as an “action-enforcing event that is already on the calendar.”
“We have been very clear that we want to see a transition to democracy,” Mrs. Clinton said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And we want to see the kind of steps taken to bring that about. We want to see an orderly transition.”
The administration has walked a fine line in recent days, balancing its alliance with Mr. Mubarak, the staunchest American ally in the Arab world, with its desire not to be on the wrong side of history, as enraged demonstrators rise up in revolt against Mr. Mubarak’s autocratic rule.
But Mrs. Clinton’s comments, on a day when Egyptian fighter jets buzzed vast crowds in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and looters set fire to shopping malls and damaged antiquities in a Cairo museum, suggested that the administration was running out of patience with Mr. Mubarak.
She noted tartly that the United States had been imploring him to appoint a vice president for three decades. And she offered no endorsement of the man he named to that post on Saturday, Omar Suleiman, the head of Egyptian intelligence, whom she has met several times in Cairo and Washington.
“There are some new people taking responsibility,” Mrs. Clinton said on the CBS program, “Face the Nation.” “We hope they can contribute to the kind of economic and democratic reforms that the people of Egypt deserve.”
President Obama also voiced support for an “orderly transition” in Egypt that is responsive to the aspirations of Egyptians in phone calls with foreign leaders, the White House said on Sunday. Mr. Obama spoke by phone to British Prime Minister David Cameron, as he had on Saturday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“During his calls,” a spokesman said, “the president reiterated his focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, association, and speech; and supporting an orderly transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.”
The White House has refrained from calling publicly for Mr. Mubarak to step down, officials said on Saturday, because it worried about losing its leverage over him and about contributing to a political vacuum in Egypt, which could be filled by extremist, anti-American forces.
Indeed, Mrs. Clinton reaffirmed the longstanding ties between the United States and Egypt. She said the administration did not plan to cut off nearly $1.5 billion military and economic aid to the country, softening the White House’s announcement on Friday that it would review assistance to Egypt, based on how the police and army handled the protests in coming days.
Mrs. Clinton said the army appeared to be acting with restraint, differentiating between peaceful protesters and looters. But she warned that Egypt could not make changes that resulted in the creation of a democracy for “six months or a year, evolving into a military dictatorship.”
Even as she spoke on ABC’s “This Week,” images of fighter jets roaring above the head of protesters in Cairo appeared on television, and Mrs. Clinton acknowledged an “incredibly complex set of circumstances.”
She had taped her interviews before leaving on a day-trip to Haiti, where she will confront another country in political upheaval, with recent presidential elections mired in charges of vote-rigging and fraud, as well as the surprise return of a former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Yet for all its poignancy and misery, Haiti poses much less of a problem to the administration than Egypt in chaos, given Egypt’s role at the fulcrum of one of the world’s most volatile regions. With the revolt in Tunisia that overthrew its president, and growing protests in Yemen and Jordan, the United States is facing upheaval in several crucial countries.
“This is the Obama administration’s first foreign policy crisis in real time,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator in the Clinton administration. “Their response is marked by bad options, precarious outcomes, and limited influence to shape – let alone direct — events.”
But Senator John McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, laid out a scenario on “State of the Union” that he said left open the prospect of success if certain conditions were met: Mr. Mubarak agrees not to seek re-election, turns over his government to a caretaker, and insures “a free, open, transparent election in September.” “But this is a narrow window of opportunity,” Mr. McCain said. “The longer unrest exists, the more likely it is to become extreme.”
Two former senior American diplomats, not under the weight of discretion faced by a serving as secretary of state, predicted that Mr. Mubarak’s political demise was only a matter of time.
“He’s become a symbol for everything that they find objectionable,” said Edward Walker, a former ambassador to Egypt, said on CNN, referring to the rage on Egyptian streets. John Negroponte, the former ambassador to the United Nations, said he agreed that Mr. Mubarak’s days in office were numbered.
Mr. Walker said he did not expect a rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic opposition group that Mr. Mubarak’s government has long suppressed, and he said that to suggest a parallel to the Iranian revolution of 1979 was “a way overreach.”
Mr. Negroponte seemed a bit less sanguine. “We have a lot of examples of disasters that have followed after the demise of an authoritarian leader,” he said. “If this goes wrong it could be very bad for our interests.”
He added, “ I don’t think we should be in that big of a hurry for the regime to change.”
Brian Knowlton contributed reporting.