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Introduction
President
Bush nominated Dr. Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, November 16, 2004
to become the 66th U.S. Secretary of State. Rice, Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs from 2001, will succeed
Colin Powell, whose resignation was made public a day earlier.
This NID provides
information about the announcement, Dr. Rice's remarks concerning
the US-Saudi relationship, reaction to the announcement in Arab media,
Dr. Rice's biographical data and a compilation of Dr. Rice's
public statements regarding US Middle East policy.
In
the News
Dr. Rice, who must be
confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the post, will be the first black
woman and only the second woman to be chosen as America's top
diplomat. The first woman in U.S. history to serve as Secretary of
State was Madeleine Albright who served during the second term of
the Clinton Administration (1997-2001). The Secretary of State is
fourth in line to succeed the president.
During
the last four years I've relied on her counsel,
benefited from her great experience and appreciated her
sound and steady judgment," said President Bush in
making the announcement. "And now, I'm honored that
she has agreed to serve in my Cabinet. The Secretary of
State is America's face to the world. And in Dr. Rice,
the world will see the strength, the grace and the
decency of our country.
"When
confirmed by the Senate, Condoleezza Rice will take
office at a critical time for our country. We're a
nation at war; we're leading a large coalition against a
determined enemy; we're putting in place new structures
and institutions to confront outlaw regimes, to oppose
proliferation of dangerous weapons and materials, and to
break up terror networks.
"The
United States has undertaken a great calling of history
to aid the forces of reform and freedom in the broader
Middle East so that that region can grow in hope,
instead of growing in anger. We're pursuing a positive
direction to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, an
approach that honors the peaceful aspirations of the
Palestinian people through a democratic state, and an
approach that will ensure the security of our good
friend, Israel.
"Meeting
all of these objectives will require wise and skillful
leadership at the Department of State, and Condi Rice is
the right person for that challenge," said
President Bush.
Dr.
Rice was tapped by the Bush campaign in 2000 to advise the
candidate on national security issues and foreign policy. Rice
joined the Bush Administration as National Security Adviser on
January 22, 2001. In this position, Rice became one of President
Bush's closest confidantes and counselors during the U.S.-led war
on terror and the invasion of Iraq. Rice's deputy, Stephen Hadley,
will replace her as the National Security Adviser when she moves
to Foggy Bottom.
As Secretary of State,
one of Rice's challenges will be to bring renewed attention and
focus to Middle East diplomacy. Rice will also be charged with
maintaining the important existing relationships with Middle
Eastern partners in the war on terror, especially Saudi Arabia.
Outlook on Saudi Arabia
Rice has been supportive
of the Kingdom's efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
On March 11, 2002 on PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Rice
talked about Crown
Price Abdullah's peace initiative. She said, "First of
all, even though the violence has worsened, we think there's a
little bit of an opening made possible by the initiative of Crown
Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, recognizing that out of a peace
process there ought to be normalization of relations between the
Arab world and the Israelis. We think that even though that is not
a plan, per se, that it is an initiative that says that the
moderate Arab states want to accept responsibility for being part
of the solution and so we want to explore that opening."
[Ed. Note: At the Beirut
Summit in March 2002, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah put
forth a proposal for the Arab-Israeli peace process. He proposed
that Israel withdraw to pre-1967 borders and that it recognize an
independent Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem.
The proposal also calls for a resolution of the Palestinian
refugee problem through repatriation and/or compensation. In
addition, Crown Prince Abdullah proposed the normalization of
diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel as well as Arab
recognition of Israel. This proposal was fully endorsed by the
22-memeber League of Arab States at the Beirut Summit.]
Dr.
Rice has spoken positively on US-Saudi cooperation in the war on
terror [see remarks below]. The Administration view on the
relationship is often emphasized by President Bush. On May 16,
2003 he said, "Saudi Arabia is our friend, and we're working
closely with them to track down the killers of American citizens
and British citizens and citizens from Saudi Arabia, as well as
other countries.
"We're doing
everything we can to secure the homeland. The best way to secure
the homeland is to work with countries like Saudi Arabia and to
find the killers and get them before they get us. And that's what
this country will do," continued President Bush.
Likewise, Rice has
praised the Kingdom's efforts to track down terrorists and stop
the financing of terrorism. In an interview with wire and print
journalists on March 24, 2002, Rice said, "We've got a
worldwide coalition fighting this terrorism. We've liberated 50
million people. We have a good ally in Afghanistan. We're building
a good ally in Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are fighting in the
war on terrorism like they never have before. I think that the
American people understand that."
More
recently, in a speech given at the American Israeli Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) conference on October 25, 2004, Rice said,
"Until recently, terrorists were well-established in Saudi
Arabia and faced little scrutiny and even less opposition. But
today, particularly after the May bombings in Riyadh, the Saudi
government is shutting down the facilitators and financial
supporters of terrorism.
"The result of these
efforts is plain: the terrorists' world is growing smaller. The
places where they can operate with impunity are becoming fewer and
fewer. And, we will not rest until there is no safe place for
terrorists to hide," said Rice.
Reactions
Comments from Middle East
oriented press outlets, compiled in a BBC
Monitoring report:
The
US State Department has moved further to the right
following Powell's resignation and the appointment of
Condoleezza Rice. The only common denominator between
Powell and Condoleezza is the color of their skin. One
sure thing on which analysts will agree is that
Condoleezza Rice is an exceptionally powerful
personality, yet weak due to her devotion to Bush.
--London-based Pan Arabic Al-Arab al-Alamiyah
She does not
belong to the new conservatives, but is a pragmatic
politician who is not blinded by ideology. However, she
is a difficult interlocutor, and has unwavering
convictions. Despite this she managed, nevertheless, to
come to an understanding with her French interlocutors
on more than one topic.
--London-based Pan Arabic Al-Hayat
In her capacity
as national security adviser, Rice has expressed more
than one extremist view and promoted hardline policies
in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. Therefore, no one
should expect her to change her views in her new post,
rather one should expect her to adopt more hardline
policies.
--Jordan's Al-Dustur
Condoleezza
Rice is midway between the doves and hawks, moving from
one nest to the other. Her presence in the State
Department might restore its importance after the hawks
had clipped Powell's wings.
--Palestinian Al-Hayat al-Jadidah
The appointment
of Condoleezza Rice is a strong indication US policies
in the Bush second term will be dominated by the
military.
--United Arab Emirates' Al-Khalij
Growing racism
towards the Palestinians and Arabs in general in America
is today a reality. It is appropriate that Condoleezza
Rice should do something about it as she gets ready to
move to her new post. Will she be willing to tackle it?
--Lebanon's Al-Nahar
Yesterday
officials in Israel had difficulty concealing their
happiness at the appointment of Condoleezza Rice. For
Israel, Rice's appointment is great news primarily
because for the first time there is a chance for change
in the State Department's traditional attitude to
Israel: while White House officials have always tended
to accommodate Israel for political or other
considerations, State Department officials sought
greater balance in their approach towards Israel and the
Palestinians.
--Israel's Yediot Aharonot
Also:
World
press split over Rice
Newspapers around
the world have mixed views on the nomination of
Condoleezza Rice as the new
US
Secretary of State.
While some commentators see the appointment as a
positive move which will enhance
US
foreign policy in the years
ahead, many fear it heralds a more hard-line approach to
international affairs.. Complete
report..
Editorial:
Enter the She-Hawk
Arab News -- November 18, 2004
Excerpt..
"Over
the past four years Bush has developed a foreign policy
strategy that is a far cry from the classical Cold War
balance of power politics that nurtured Powell's
generation. He is the first
US
president since Ronald Reagan to be determined to use
American power to reshape the world rather than maintain
the status quo. In that sense, someone like Powell could
not be regarded as other than an intruder. Condoleezza
Rice, on the other hand, is a well-established member of
the president's political coterie. An expert in
communism, Rice was among the first American scholars of
her generation to assert what was at the time regarded
as the supreme political heresy - that the Soviet empire
could be brought down. Bush's regime-change and
exporting-democracy politics sounded out of place in
Powell's discourse but constitute a vital part of Rice's
political mother tongue."
Source: Arab
News
Bush
Picks Rice for Top Job
Barbara
Ferguson, Arab News
-- Nov. 17,
2004
Excerpt..
According
to Republican officials, the selection of Rice reflects
Bush's determination to take personal control of the
government in a second term.
But
Rice, who is fiercely loyal to the president and his
closest foreign policy adviser, is considered by many
experts as being one of the weakest national security
advisers in recent history in terms of managing
interagency conflicts.
Rice
not only had to manage two powerful Cabinet members with
sharply different views - Powell and Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld - but also had to deal with Vice
President Dick Cheney, who is said to weigh in on every
major foreign policy issue.
Not
everyone was happy to learn of her nomination. "We,
as a nation, will survive this crowd," a former
Foreign Service career officer anonymously told Arab
News. "And at State, we will also survive."
He
said Rice "was an unfortunate choice."
Pausing, he added: "I'm still in shock from Nov. 2
(elections), so don't look for objectivity from
me." The former diplomat cautioned: "You have
to watch who she imposes on the bureaucracy (State
Department): If there are some real Neanderthals she
puts in key positions, then watch out. We may just
maintain this implacable situation in the world."
Source:
Arab
News
The Greater Middle East
Initiative
As the Secretary of State
in the second Bush Administration Dr. Rice will be responsible for
a series of programs launched under Colin Powell to advance US
policy in the Middle East. Among them is the Greater Middle
East Initiative. The Saudi-US Relations Information Service
provided a News In Depth feature titled, "Bush on the
Middle East, Energy Independence and U.S.-Saudi Relations,"
on November 1, 2004. It included a discussion of the
administration's "Greater Middle East Initiative," the
"Middle East Partnership Initiative" and the
"Middle East Free Trade Initiative." Click
here to view that "NID."
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Dr.
Condoleezza Rice became the Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National
Security Advisor, on January 22, 2001.
In June
1999, she completed a six year tenure as Stanford University 's
Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and
academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5
billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400
faculty members and 14,000 students.
As professor
of political science, Dr. Rice has been on the Stanford faculty
since 1981 and has won two of the highest teaching honors -- the
1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993
School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished
Teaching.
At Stanford,
she has been a member of the Center for International Security and
Arms Control, a Senior Fellow of the Institute for International
Studies, and a Fellow (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her
books include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with
Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin,
and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak
Army (1984). She also has written numerous articles on Soviet and
East European foreign and defense policy, and has addressed
audiences in settings ranging from the U.S. Ambassador's Residence
in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican
National Conventions.
From 1989
through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the
final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush
Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet
and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a
Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on
Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal
Advisory Committee on Gender -- Integrated Training in the
Military.
She was a
member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the
Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, the International
Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony
Board of Governors. She was a Founding Board member of the Center
for a New Generation, an educational support fund for schools in
East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice
President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula . In
addition, her past board service has encompassed such
organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the
Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
The Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East
European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED,
public broadcasting for San Francisco.
Born
November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she earned her
bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta
Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master's from
the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the
Graduate School of International Studies at the University of
Denver in 1981. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from
Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the
University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University
in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the
University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004.
She resides in Washington, D.C.
July 2004
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html
DR. RICE ON THE RECORD
Dr. Condoleezza Rice's
Opening Remarks to Commission on Terrorist
Attacks - April 8, 2004
Excerpt
..Under [President Bush's]
leadership, the United States and our allies are
disrupting terrorist operations, cutting off their
funding, and hunting down terrorists one-by-one. Their
world is getting smaller. The terrorists have lost a
home-base and training camps in Afghanistan. The
Governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia now pursue them
with energy and force.
We are confronting the nexus between
terror and weapons of mass destruction. We are working
to stop the spread of deadly weapons and prevent then
from getting into the hands of terrorists, seizing
dangerous materials in transit, where necessary. Because
we acted in Iraq, Saddam Hussein will never again use
weapons of mass destruction against his people or his
neighbors. And we have convinced Libya to give up all
its WMD-related programs and materials.
And as we attack the threat at its
sources, we are also addressing its roots. Thanks to the
bravery and skill of our men and women in uniform, we
removed from power two of the world's most brutal
regimes -- sources of violence, and fear, and
instability in the region. Today, along with many
allies, we are helping the people of Iraq and
Afghanistan to build free societies. And we are working
with the people of the Middle East to spread the
blessings of liberty and democracy as the alternatives
to instability, hatred, and terror. This work is hard
and dangerous, yet it is worthy of our effort and our
sacrifice. The defeat of terror and the success of
freedom in those nations will serve the interests of our
Nation and inspire hope and encourage reform throughout
the greater Middle East..
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040408.html
Dr. Condoleezza
Rice Discusses the War on Terror on "60
Minutes"
March 28, 2004
Excerpts
Q The Bush
administration's handling of the war on terror is the
most talked about and controversial topic in the country
these days; hearings are being held here in Washington;
books are coming out criticizing the administration's
handling of the war. As the National Security Advisor to
the President of the United States, how do you feel
about all of this?
DR. RICE: I think it's
perfectly logical, Ed, that people want to know that
their country, their government, is doing everything
that it can to protect them from another event like
September 11th. I think we have to say that it's very
difficult to do in an open society, and we cannot rule
out that we might have another attack - indeed, we know
that there are terrorists out there every day trying to
pull off another spectacular attack.
But I think it's
perfectly logical that people want to know what we're
doing -- and we're doing a lot. Since September 11th, we
have wrapped up two-thirds of the al Qaeda leadership.
The President has liberated 50 million people in
Afghanistan and in Iraq. We've taken away their
forward-operating bases around the world. We have
worldwide cooperation with places like Pakistan and
Saudi Arabia. We really have terrorism on the run. But
this is going to be a long war against terrorism, as the
President told the American people just a few days after
September 11th.
[Also]
Q Al Qaeda has become a
decentralized collection of regional networks, said to
be working autonomously. Does that make them more
dangerous today?
DR. RICE: They're very
dangerous. I still believe that we have done a lot to
hurt this organization. We've been able, through our
international partners, to cut off a lot of their
support and their funding; we've killed two-thirds of
their known leadership, and, of course, that takes the
field generals out of business, which is very
important.; we have managed to take away territory that
they most want to use - territory like Afghanistan, they
can't function in Sudan, they obviously can't function
in places like Libya -- they're being pursued in Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan with an aggressiveness that was not
there prior to 9/11.
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040328.html
Delivered June
12, 2003 Remarks by National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice at Town Hall Los Angeles Breakfast Dr.
Rice
Excerpt
..President Bush has
stated many times that the battle of Iraq was about
moving a great danger, but also about building a better
future for all of the people of the region. Iraq's
people, for sure, will be the first to benefit. But
success in Iraq will also add to the momentum for reform
that is already touching lives, from Morocco to Bahrain
and beyond.
Last year, in an
extraordinary United Nations report, leading Arab
intellectuals called for greater political and economic
freedom for the empowerment of women, and better and
more modern education in the Arab world. In January of
this year, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
proposed an Arab Charter to spur economic and political
reform. And the proposal speaks openly of the need for
enhance political participation. In Afghanistan, people
are rebuilding, writing a new constitution and moving
beyond the culture of the warlord that has dominated
their political life for a generation..
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/06/20030613-5.html
Dr. Condoleezza
Rice Discusses Iraq - Oct 8, 2004
Excerpt
..The building of a new
Iraq provides a new opportunity for a different kind of
Middle East. Today, the 22 countries of this vital
region have a combined population of 300 million -- but
a combined GDP less than that of Spain. It is a region
suffering from what leading Arab intellectuals call a
political and economic "freedom deficit". And
it is a region where hopelessness provides a fertile
ground for ideologies that convince promising youths to
aspire not to a university education, a career, or a
family, but to blowing themselves up -- taking as many
innocent lives with them as possible. These ingredients
are a recipe for great instability and pose a direct
threat to America's security.
Working in full partnership with the peoples of the
region who share our commitment to human freedom, the
United States and our friends and allies can help build
a Middle East where hope triumphs over bitterness ...
where greater political and economic freedom, and
better, more modern education encourage people to reject
the path of terror, and instead fully join in the
progress of our times. A free, democratic, and
successful Iraq can serve as a beacon, and a catalyst,
in this effort..
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031008-4.html
Dr. Rice
Addresses War on Terror
Remarks by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
Followed by Question and Answer to the U.S. Institute of
Peace
Washington, D.C. -- Aug 19, 2004
Excerpt
..This has been the
President's clear message and consistent practice. In
his very first State of the Union speech, he said,
"America will take the side of brave men and women
who advocate values around the world, including the
Islamic world, because we have a greater objective than
eliminating threats and containing resentment. We seek a
just and peaceful world beyond the war on terror."
The President has put
these words into action. Under his leadership, America
has adopted a forward strategy for freedom for the
Middle East. That strategy has many elements. We are
supporting the people of Afghanistan and Iraq as they
fight terrorists and extremism and work to build
democratic governments. We have joined with our NATO and
G8 allies to help the people of the broader Middle East
and North Africa to create jobs, increase access to
capital, improve literacy and education, protect human
rights, and make progress toward democracy.
President Bush has
launched the Middle East Partnership Initiative to link
America with reformers in the Middle East through a
concrete project. He is working to establish a
U.S.-Middle East free trade area within a decade, to
bring the people of the region into an expanding circle
of opportunity. And just this week, he signed America's
newest free trade agreement in the area with Morocco.
The latest administration budget doubles funding for the
National Endowment for Democracy for its new work,
focusing on bringing free elections, free markets, free
press, free speech and free labor unions to the Middle
East. And we are increasing our efforts to support
broadcasting in the Middle East by one-third, from $30
million to $40 million. And early in the administration,
we began the successful Arabic language Radio Sawa
service, and the Persian language Radio Farda service.
This year, we launched a new Middle East television
network called "Alhurra," Arabic for "the
free one." The network broadcasts news, movies,
sports, entertainment and educational programming to
millions of people across the region -- fulfill a goal
of getting to the truth.
We can and we must do
more. Our future efforts should focus on two areas.
First, we must work to dispel destructive myths about
American society and about American policy. Second, we
must expand dramatically our efforts to support and
encourage the voices of moderation and tolerance and
pluralism within the Muslim world.
In the immediate
aftermath of September 11th, many Americans were asking,
"Why do they hate us?" It was even the title
of a celebrated Newsweek cover story by my friend,
Fareed Zakaria. Then, as now, the answer to that
question depends on what one means by "they."
There is a small minority of extremists in the Muslim
world who, indeed, hate America and will always hate
America. They hate our policies, our values, our
freedoms, our very way of life. When that hatred is
expressed through terrorist violence, there is only one
proper response. And that response is that we must find
them and defeat them, defeat those who seek to kill our
people and to harm our country.
Yet, there are some 1
billion people in the world who profess the Islamic
faith. And the evidence about their attitudes toward the
United States is far from conclusive. A great many
Muslims still come to this country every year in search
of a better life. And surveys show that a great many
more would do so if they could. Yet, surveys of Muslim
populations also show that large majorities of Muslims
fear American power, or mistrust American intentions, or
misunderstand American values.
For instance, many in
the Muslim world see the worst of American popular
culture and assume that American-style democracy -- or
any democracy at all, for that matter -- inevitably
leads to crassness and immorality. Others believe that
democracy is inherently hostile to faith, and corrosive
of cherished traditions. And many more are federal a
steady diet of hateful propaganda and conspiracy
theories that twist American policy into grotesque
caricatures.
These views pose a serious challenge for our country. At
their worst and most intense, they create a climate of
bitterness and grievance, in which extremism finds a
sympathetic ear. And such views can hold entire
societies captive to failed ideologies and prevent
millions of people from joining in the progress and
prosperity of our time. The consequences for much of the
Muslim world are stagnation, persistent poverty and a
lack of freedom.
Dispelling these myths
and instilling trust is a difficult and long-term
proposition. We must not lose sight of the fact that
some of the mistrust and suspicion felt toward the West
by many in the Middle East and in the Muslim world, in
fact, have some basis in reality. Relations between the
Islamic world and the West began in conflict, and for
many centuries, bitter and bloody conflict -- wars of
religion and then colonial wars -- defined the contact
that each side had with each other. And for the last six
decades, America and our allies excused and accommodated
the lack of freedom in the Middle East, hoping, as
President Bush said, "to purchase stability at the
price of liberty." Of course, we got neither.
Yet, this is far from
the whole story. The story of America's more recent
relations with the Muslim world is a story of friendship
and partnership. Turkey is a strong ally of the United
States, and a full and proud member of the NATO
alliance. America has built alliances with Muslim
nations around the world, from Morocco to Indonesia. We
have signed free trade agreements with two Muslim
nations, and we are working on two more. We are a major
provider of development assistance in the Muslim world.
And America has worked
to find a lasting solution to the conflict between the
Israelis and Palestinians. No matter who is in office,
no matter from what party, American Presidents have
cared to try to find peace in the Holy Land.
In doing so, we stand these days with the Palestinian
people who seek democracy and reform. After all,
President Bush is the first American President to call,
as a matter of policy, for a Palestinian state. Yet,
because America supports Israel's desire for security,
many in the Muslim world seem to believe that America
opposes the Palestinian desire for freedom. This is a
misconception that we must take head-on and dispel.
Because the truth is that our policy insists on freedom.
The President believes that the Palestinian people
deserve not merely their own state, but a just and
democratic state that serves their interests and
fulfills their decent aspirations.
For its part, Israel
must meet its responsibility under the road map and help
create conditions for a democratic Palestinian state to
emerge. Israel must take steps to improve the lives of
the Palestinian people and to remove the daily
humiliations that harden the hearts of future
generations. Along with the vast majority of people who
dwell in the Holy Land, Americans want peace for this
troubled region -- but we realize that there can be no
lasting peace for either side until there is freedom and
security for both sides.
The story of America's
recent relations with the Muslim world is also one of
help and, we can even say, perhaps, rescue. America --
American soldiers gave their lives trying to provide
food in Somalia. America has gone to war five times
since the end of the Cold War, and how many in the
Muslim world know that each time it was to help Muslims?
Americans have fought in Kuwait and in Bosnia and in
Kosovo and in Afghanistan and Iraq. Without exception,
these were wars of liberation and of freedom. Kuwait's
sovereignty was restored and today that monarchy is
pursuing reform. Kuwait has a directly elected national
assembly.
America stopped the
killing in Bosnia and reversed ethnic cleansing in
Kosovo. Today, those two nations are making the tough
reforms needed so that they can join a united Europe.
Afghanistan is free of the brutal repression of the
Taliban and building a democracy that recognizes the
central role of Islam in Afghan life, and that sees that
control as completely consistent with democracy.
Iraq is free of the terror and fear of Saddam Hussein.
Iraqis are free to worship as they choose. Major
religious shrines are open to pilgrims for the first
time in decades, and the Iraqi people are taking the
very hard steps toward the building of democracy.
These are stories that
need to be told and that need to be heard. And so does
the truth about American society. From a distance, I am
certain that America can seem secular and commercial and
hectic and hyper-modern and dismissive of tradition.
Yet, Americans have a profound respect for tradition, a
deeply felt sense of justice, and a strong attachment to
our communities and families.
Survey after survey shows that Americans are the most
religious people in the developed world. The American
Constitution and the American way of life strike a
successful balance between the imperatives of government
and the demands of conscience. Since our founding we
have separated church and state, but we do not exclude
religion from our lives. In fact, among all the modern
societies in the world, America is the one in which
religion and religious people play the largest role.
There is no conflict between being a good citizen and
being a good Jew or Christian or Hindu or Buddhist or
Muslim. Many Muslims born in other lands have learned
this for themselves, as they pray in America's 1,200
mosques and raise their American children in the Islamic
faith.
Yet, we cannot take for granted that Muslims in the rest
of the world know these simple truths. We need to get
the truth of our values and our policies to the people
of the Middle East, because truth serves the cause of
freedom. We must also do everything that we can to
support and encourage the voices of moderation and
tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim world. There
is a hunger for new ideas and fresh thinking in the
broader Middle East, and that hunger cannot, ultimately,
be satisfied by the work of outsiders. Just as freedom
must always be chosen, lasting progress and reform in
society must emerge from within.
Don't worry, I can still
see. (Laughter.)
We are fully aware that
outside support can sometimes harm more than it helps.
Some critics in the Muslim world will point to aid from
the West as a way to de-legitimize reformist ideas. We
are thinking hard about how moderate and democratic
forces in the West can usefully help those in the
Islamic world who are fighting against extremism --
because they need our help. But, of course, democracy
and freedom must be home-grown. Today, outside support
for extremists is common, while moderates too often
struggle with inadequate resources and too little
solidarity. That has to change -- and we have to help to
change it.
Americans also need to
hear the stories of the people of the Muslim world. We
need to understand their challenges and their cultures
and their hopes; to speak their languages and read their
literature; to know their cultures in the deepest sense.
Our interaction must be a conversation, not a monologue.
We must reach out and explain, but we must also listen.
Student exchanges and sister city programs and
professional contacts helped forge lasting ties of
friendship and understanding across the Atlantic and
across the barriers of tyranny during the Cold War.
Similar efforts today can achieve similar results
between Americans and Muslim peoples throughout the
world.
Source:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040819-5.html
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