POMED Notes: “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East, Pt. II”

On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the second in its ongoing series, “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” The witnesses for the hearing were Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), and Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, both at the U.S. Department of State. The hearing was chaired by Steve Chabot (R-OH) and intermittently attended by Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Donald Mazullo (R-IL), Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY), Gerald Connolly (D-VA) and Theodore Deutch (D-FL).

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In their opening statements, Chabot, Schwartz and Connolly focused their concern and criticism over the reconciliation agreement between the leading political parties in the Palestinian territories, Fateh and Hamas. Each reaffirmed the importance of the US-Israeli relationship in this context. Chabot and Schwartz recently toured Israel, Egypt and Jordan, and contrasted the optimism over the agreement on the Egyptian side and the pessimism in Israel.

Posner opened by remarking the “pivotal moment” the region is experiencing, as well as the “keen interest” and “critical role” of the US in supporting democratic reform. He added that a “false dichotomy” had been drawn between US interests and values. Some of the ways in which the US is supporting popular movements in the region include, according to Posner: new funding allocations for net security training—particularly on bypassing firewalls, strong rhetoric against human right abuses, and the push for an unprecedented special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to denounce repression by the Syrian government. Wittes also stressed the unique opportunity of the Arab Spring to “build better foundations” for stable democratic governments. She said that the peaceful transitions offer a counter-narrative to that of achieving political goals through violence. She concluded by directly addressing committee members’ concerns over the Fateh-Hamas agreement arguing for patience as many steps are still needed to implement it.

In their joint written testimony, Posner and Wittes highlighted specific projects being explored and pursued. These include structuring an Enterprise Fund for Egypt to increase access to capital available to the private sector, particularly for small and medium enterprises and the possible expansion of the Qualifying Industrial Zone program. DRL will use a portion of the reprogrammed and repositioned $165 million in Economic Support Funds for Egypt for politics and media training. Of the roughly $30 million in assistance targeted to Tunisia, the Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is providing $20 million to support Tunisian efforts during their democratic transition. USAID is providing approximately $10 million in support for the political process. The Friends of Yemen process harmonizes political and economic assistance efforts with partners including the IMF and the UN. The United States alone is providing $53.5 million to meet humanitarian needs in Libya and to evacuate and assist those fleeing the violence in Libya. USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team to the region March 1, initially based in Tunisia and Egypt. The President has agreed to send up to $25 million in non-lethal assistance to the Transitional National Council (TNC) for use by their security forces.

In response to Buerkle’s general question about the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egypt, Wittes noted that the organization gave up violence in the 1970s and that Egyptians today have real political options to choose from. As far as the US is concerned, any party that respects the fundamentals of the democratic process has a right to participate in it. When Buerkle asked a similar question regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, Wittes downplayed its role noting that there is no official Brotherhood party there, but rather an affiliate, the Islamic Action Front.

Posner partially confirmed Schwartz’s pessimism over the current state of political institutions in Egpyt, “We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking that it will look like the US or Western Europe in a matter of months.” Schwartz’s questions were in the context of the potential threat to Israel. Posner noted that US focus was more on building Egypt than directly countering Iran’s influence. Wittes noted that the Egypt’s ruling military council immediately agreed to respect all peace treaties and agreements concerning arms smuggling.

Mazullo asked, why the administration has not supported regime change in Syria as quickly as it did in Libya, Egypt and Yemen? Posner emphasized the use of rhetoric and gradual assessment as events escalate. Unsatisfied with this, Mazullo turned the question to Wittes who cited the need to mobilize the international committee, as Syria has more “multifaceted relationships with other countries. Still frustrated with what he viewed as the skirting of his question, Mazullo asked, how many people have to die before the president acts? At this point his time expired.

In the remainder of the questioning, Chabot and Deutch commented on developments and policy toward the Palestinian Authority, Iran and Syria. Chabot approved of what he saw during his visit to the joint operations center for Palestinian security forces in Jericho where he met with General Michael Muller, the new US security coordinator for the Palestinian territories and Israel. However he conditioned this with his repeated disproval of the recent reconciliation agreement, citing concerns expressed in a meeting with Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon. Chabot rejected the proposal that politically independent Palestinian body could conduct negotiations as that body would still be backed by Hamas. He similarly rejected the premise that instability in the region was connected to the Palestine question, as the idea was proposed to him by a “former Lebanese head of state” earlier in the week. Chabot also questioned the continued mission of US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. Posner defended Ford’s continued presence on the ground where he is daily connecting human rights victims and activists. Deutch briefly mentioned the present relevance of the 2009 Voice Act which would impose sanctions on those assist in oppression in Iran. Chabot then speculated that if the Green Revolution in Iran happened now, the administration would adopt a different approach than the one it adopted two years ago.