WASHINGTON — For years, President Bush has eagerly waved a flag for democracy in the Mideast from afar. This week, he steps gingerly into the troubled region where his freedom agenda is stalled.
Bush proclaimed in his second inaugural address that the U.S. would work for democratic reform in every nation and culture “with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.” Now, in the final months of his presidency, he is off to sell democratic ideals to wary Middle Eastern leaders who have turned their focus to who will succeed Bush and how political turmoil will play out in Pakistan.
During his trip, Bush will nudge the Israelis and Palestinians toward a peace pact, get an update on Iraq and work to counter Iran’s quest for greater influence in the region. But Bush’s freedom agenda in the region — an initiative he holds close to his heart — will be an overarching theme.
In a speech Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, Bush will highlight political change that has occurred in places like Bah rain and how regional security is important not only for democracy, but economic growth. On Saturday he’ll host a round-table session about democracy with Kuwaiti women, who were excluded from political life until recently.
Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says if there is a surprise in store during the trip, he expects it would be a stop in Lebanon where the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is locked in a political standoff with the pro-Syrian opposition.
“Lebanon is the last flickering flame of the administration’s democratization push in the Middle East,” Alterman said. “Clearly a visit to Lebanon would carry with it immense security concerns . . . but I find it hard to imagine that the president will be so close and not seek to do something that will strengthen the hand of Prime Minister Saniora and his allies.”
Ahead of Bush’s visit, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Tuesday to begin tackling the core issues of a peace agreement in a push to revive stalled negotiations.
The renewed peace talks, formally launched at a conference in November in Annapolis, Md., are a centerpiece of Bush’s agenda. But negotiations have made little headway, marred by Israeli construction plans in disputed territory and Palestinian militant attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“We think the visit is an opportunity to energize the momentum of the post-Annapolis dialogue between us and the Palestinians,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.
