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Egypt: Were Obama's choices right?

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"When a guy gets up and takes a bullet and walks away with a smile,people just think differently about him." 


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US getting impatient with Mubarak regime

ABC NEWS

Jane Cowan reported this story on Thursday, February 3, 2011 12:53:00Listen to MP3 of this story (minutes)
ALTERNATE WMA VERSION | MP3 DOWNLOADELEANOR HALL: In the United States the Obama administration is signalling growing impatience with the Mubarak regime saying change needs to happen now and that "now means yesterday".

But it remains unclear just what else the administration is prepared to do to influence events.

North America correspondent Jane Cowan reports.

JANE COWAN: The violent scenes on the streets of Egypt have shocked the world and the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the US president Barack Obama didn't see it coming.

ROBERT GIBBS: I think the president found the images outrageous and deplorable. Everybody did.

JANE COWAN: On the streets of Cairo, pro-Mubarak supporters reportedly accused protesters of executing an American-backed revolution. They held up anti-American signs, one reading "Obama shut up".

It's exactly what the US was trying to avoid - the perception that it's overly involved or taking sides.

Robert Gibbs made no attempt to hide America's frustration at Hosni Mubarak's failure to make good on promises of a peaceful transition.

ROBERT GIBBS: If you're asking me if now is September, it is unseasonably warm but it is not September. (Laughter) Now means now.

JANE COWAN: The violence plays into the hands of the Egyptian leader who's painted the crisis as a choice between stability and chaos.

The State Department spokesman, PJ Crowley, called those behind the violence "thugs".

PJ CROWLEY: We don't know who unleashed these thugs on the streets of Cairo. They've been identified as supporters of the government. But whoever they are, there needs to be accountability here.

This was clearly an attempt at intimidating the protesters.

JANE COWAN: Other world leaders echoed the condemnation.

In London the British prime minister, David Cameron, said you couldn't watch the violence without being moved.

DAVID CAMERON: If it turns out that the regime in any way has been sponsoring or tolerating this violence that would be completely and utterly unacceptable. These are despicable scenes that we're seeing and they should not be repeated.

JANE COWAN: The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, called the violence "unacceptable".

BAN KI-MOON: Any attack against the peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable and I strongly condemn it. We should not underestimate the danger of instability across the Middle East.

JANE COWAN: He suggested change needed to come well before the elections planned for September.

BAN KI-MOON: They should listen more attentively to genuine and sincere wish of the people. It is important. There needs to be a very peaceful and orderly transition. If any transition is to be taken, it should be done now.

JANE COWAN: But the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has already rejected exhortations for a swift transfer of power, saying calls for that only serve to inflame the situation.

DAVID GERGEN: What the administration now needs to do if I may say so is to try to build an international coalition to put enormous pressure not only on Mubarak but on the army.

JANE COWAN: David Gergen has advised four American presidents and directs the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government.

DAVID GERGEN: First of all call off the Mubarak thugs and so stop the violence.

Secondly, allow the protesters to go back out there. The army was saying today, asking the protesters to go home.

And thirdly to put enormous pressure on the army and Mubarak to understand that Western aid is not coming unless they speed up this transition and they start talking to the opposition, bring them in and make this a very rapid transition. September is way too late.

JANE COWAN: As the crisis deepens reporters in Washington are bristling at the sense the White House has sharply limited their access to the president to avoid questions on Egypt.

Barack Obama plans to make himself available later this week by which time he will be hoping the situation has become calmer and clearer.

This is Jane Cowan in Washington for The World Today.

President Mubarak of Egypt Agrees to Step Down in September and President Obama's Statement about Egypt

Transcript from The Situation Room Aired February 1, 2010 including                        President Obama's statement



Based on your reporting, what you're hearing at the White House, what's going on over there? What can we expect the president of the United States -- we're waiting to hear his remarks -- what are you hearing he's going to tell us?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: It will be fascinating to hear exactly what the president says. Because this is not everything they wanted, Wolf, and yet, at the White House they believe it's a significant step in the right direction. Because a President Mubarak who was stubbornly trying to cling to power just days ago has at least now, A., not only said he Would not run in the next election, but, B., said he would work with the Parliament on speeding up the election.

And what you just heard from Mohamed ElBaradei in that interview with Anderson is quite significant. The White House had hoped President Mubarak would agree to leave soon after a transitional government took place. They still think that is a possibility down the road.

But what they had hoped is that this is largely a revolution without a face. And they thought perhaps Mr. ElBaradei with his history as the diplomat might step in and say OK not good enough, but at least we can start a negotiation now. His decision to flatly say no negotiation, not good enough, obviously complicates the situation and puts even more pressure on the United States to answer the big question, what next?

BLITZER: Yes, because at least in my mind, the street, the Arab street in Cairo, David, senses weakness on the part of President Mubarak. And they don't want to stop. If he would have done this a week or so ago, maybe even a few days ago, it might have worked. But now it's too late.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that's right, Wolf.

And President Obama clearly is not playing this just for the street protesters. He's balancing it off against America's national security interests as he sees them. And that is he doesn't want to precipitously pull the rug out from a person who has been an ally of the United States in the region for 30 years. Because that would send a signal to every other ruler of every other country, you get a few protesters out there, you got protesters going and we're going to turn against you. So he's trying to avoid that, but in the process he's not communicating, he's not showing the kind of solidarity with the protesters and the people who are going to be -- really are taking charge in Egypt for the future and I think he's got himself in a real dilemma.

He essentially has nudged Mubarak. And what the protesters wanted him to do was to shove Mubarak.

BLITZER: And it's interesting, Gloria, he sent Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, as a special enjoy, someone who is well known in Egypt, well known to President Mubarak and the entire military and political establish there. And he went in to see President Mubarak today with a message from President Obama. I'm not sure what that message was, but he's a tough guy, Wisner, and he probably delivered it with diplomacy but also with force.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, but I think it was probably the nudge rather than the shove, as David was talking about.

I also believe that the White House would really have rather seen some kind of caretaker government or some kind of transitional government, some notion of that, so that perhaps Mr. ElBaradei could help out with a transition. He's a known figure to Barack Obama. The State Department has reached out to him.

But you heard his response from Anderson Cooper, saying that this was a deception, so that's not going to work. What I was told by an administration source is -- and I think this jibes with what David is saying, is that, look, they do not want to get too far out in front of the events on the ground.

And there is some sense that this could still continue to unravel, and you may well end up with some sort of transition or caretaker government, but we will have to wait to see what Barack Obama says in a few minutes.

BLITZER: And when he speaks, John, it's going to be fascinating. Because he's got a domestic American audience. He has got an international audience who will be watching here on CNN International as well, but he's got an audience in Egypt that he's going to be addressing. And this is going to have to be a carefully crafted statement on his part.

KING: And he has -- and you're right, Wolf. He has an audience in Egypt. He has the current government and the future leaders, those people on the street of Egypt listening to him. He also has the Jordanian government, another longtime U.S. ally that reshuffled its deck today that has a sense of the jitters, not on the level of Egypt, but a sense of the jitters.

He has an Israeli government looking around wondering what is going on in the neighborhood and how much worried do they need to be, and then he has everyone else in the region, including people who frankly do not hope the United States comes out looking good here like Iran and others who will stir this up. And so the president has to deal with the people in the streets of Egypt, his longtime ally in Hosni Mubarak. But he also has to deal with, Wolf, a neighborhood you know very well. It is perhaps the most complicated, the most dicey neighborhood in the world. 


A quick thought, David Gergen, before the president walks in.

GERGEN: Well, it's hard to know. Wolf, this is one of the most extraordinary -- remember, this president wanted to make the hallmark of his Middle East policy his own speech in Cairo. And yet tonight might be more important because he has to walk this fine line.

And, you know, he does not want ElBaradei and his protesters throwing things back in his face. But how is he going to walk this tight rope and still -- and still be a leader? I think this is a tough, tough environment. Tough speech to give.


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 


Good evening, everybody.

Over the past few days the American people have watched the situation unfolding in Egypt. We've seen enormous demonstrations by the Egyptian people. We've borne witness to the beginning of a new chapter in the history of a great country, and a long-time partner of the United States.

And my administration has been in close contact with our Egyptian counterparts and a broad range of the Egyptian people, as well as others across the region and across the globe. And throughout this period, we've stood for a set of core principles.

First, we oppose violence. And I want to commend the Egyptian military for the professionalism that it has shown thus far in allowing peaceful protests while protecting the Egyptian people. We've seen tanks covered with banners and soldiers and protesters embracing in the streets. And going forward, I urge the military to continue its efforts to help ensure that this time of change is peaceful.

Second, we stand for universal values, including the rights of the Egyptian people to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and the freedom to access information. Once more, we've seen the incredible potential for technology to empower citizens and the dignity of those who stand up for a better future. In going forward, the United States will continue to stand up for democracy and the universal rights that all human beings deserve in Egypt and around the world.

Third, we have spoken out on behalf of the need for change. After his speech tonight, I spoke directly to President Mubarak. He recognizes that the status quo is not sustainable and that a change must take place. Indeed, all of us who are privileged to serve in positions of political power do so at the will of our people.

Through thousands of years, Egypt has known many moments of transformation. The voices of the Egyptian people tell us that this is one of those moments. This is one of those times.

Now, it is not the role of any other country to determine Egypt's leaders. Only the Egyptian people can do that. What is clear, and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak, is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful. It must be peaceful, and it must begin now.

Furthermore, the process must include a broad spectrum of Egyptian voices and opposition parties. It should lead to elections that are free and fair. And it should result in a government that's not only grounded in democratic principles but is also responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

And throughout this process, the United States will continue to extend the hand of partnership and friendship to Egypt. And we stand ready to provide any assistance that is necessary to help the Egyptian people as they manage the aftermath of these protests.

Over the last few days, the passion and the dignity that has been demonstrated by the people of Egypt has been an inspiration to people around the world, including here in the United States, and to all those who believe in the inevitably of human freedom.

To the people of Egypt, particularly the young people of Egypt, I want to be clear: we hear your voices. I have an unyielding belief that you will determine your own destiny and seize the promise of a better future for your children and your grandchildren. And I say that as someone who is committed to a partnership between the United States and Egypt.

There will be difficult days ahead. Many questions about Egypt's future remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt will find those answers. That truth can be seen in the sense of community in the streets. It can be seen in the mothers and fathers embracing soldiers. And it can be seen in the Egyptians who linked arms to protect the national museum. A new generation protecting the treasures of antiquity, a human chain connecting a great and ancient civilization to the promise of a new day.

Thank you very much.

BLITZER: All right. So there he is, the president of the United States. He only spoke for four and a half minutes, but very, very powerful words calling for an orderly transition that is meaningful and peaceful and beginning now in Egypt.

Let's assess what we've just heard from President Obama. Once again joining us, David Gergen, Gloria Borger and Fouad Ajami, the professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

First to you, Fouad. How do you think this is going to play, most importantly in Egypt?

AJAMI: I think, Wolf, maybe President Obama should have had David Gergen as his adviser. I think the advice that there really wasn't much that he could say.

Emotively, it was a decent statement to say something about the Egyptian people, about their dignity, about their poise, about the resistance of the army to any possibilities of violence, but I think it's not easy. You can't -- sometimes you really can't split the difference between freedom and tyranny. You can't walk that fine, thin line. And it was very hard for the president. I sympathize with the argument that maybe there wasn't any need for the statement.

BLITZER: David, you didn't think it was necessarily a good idea for the president to speak out at this very sensitive moment right now. Did he change your mind?

GERGEN: Not really, Wolf. And I must say, I'm very much in echo with what Fouad just said. I'm very sympathetic with the president. He's got a terrible dilemma on his hands. He does have to walk a tight rope.

But I would imagine, you know, what it basically said, he wants to see an orderly transition and begin now, but he's happy to labor -- or he supported the idea of Hosni Mubarak running that transition, leaving him in power, and that's exactly what the people on the streets do not want. They want immediate and unconditional departure.

The president fell well short of that, and I fear that from the United States's point of view, we're now going to have the protesters saying the United States is resisting this, and that, you know, ElBaradei is going to come in and tell Anderson again not good enough. And that worries me. I'm just -- I'm very sympathetic with the president, but I must -- OK, there it is.

BLITZER: And Gloria, very quickly, he said it's not the role of the United States or any other country to determine who Egypt's leaders should be.

BORGER: That's right. But I do think he did try at least to move this timeline up a bit. When he said the transition needs to begin now, the president didn't talk about waiting for a special election. He didn't get deeply involved in who should lead the transition.

But just in listening to him, it seemed clearer to me than a lot of other statements they had made. So I think what the White House was trying to do was say, "OK, we need to take this one step further." And I see a lot of daylight now between Mubarak and Barack Obama. 


Transcript from JOHN KING USA aired on February 1, 2010

KING: It's remarkable. Nic Robertson on the scene for us, we are lucky to have you reporting there, Nic. We'll check in throughout the hour. Now let's bring in our senior political analyst David Gergen and David, let's start with the president of the United States. He spoke just moments ago. He clearly has been nudging President Mubarak to act faster, to be more open to a dialogue and to plan on leaving office sooner, a lot sooner, one gets the sense than President Mubarak would expect. However Nic Robertson just said we don't know who the next government would be. We don't know who truly honestly speaks for the demonstrators. How does the president of the United States deal with that?


DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: This is very, very difficult for the president. In his short statement tonight, his heart was clearly with the demonstrators. He wanted to send that message. But at the same time his head tells him he's got to stick with Mubarak for the transition. And by blessing Mubarak -- Mubarak -- run transition, leaving Mubarak there in charge over this transition period of uncertain weeks and months maybe, he is clearly not going to please the demonstrators and he's clearly not going to please ElBaradei. I'm not at all sure, John, why he made the talk.


KING: You say you're not at all sure why he made the talk? And that's an interesting point. As someone who has advised four presidents, I'm getting the sense you would have advised him not to say anything tonight, but that is part of the dilemma, is it not, you have a traditional ally of the United States for decades and the president is trying essentially to tell Mubarak not months, Mr. President, weeks perhaps. Negotiate a departure, but negotiate it within weeks and many people you hear it from our correspondents there and you see it in the images, David, many of these people in the street think the United States which is supposed to be the beacon of democracy, the beacon of freedom is on the wrong side here.


GERGEN: I think that's right, John. And we, you know in Tunisia people -- the protesters are really angry at the United States because they are being fired upon with tear gas canisters and the canisters had made in the USA on them. And here in Egypt now, the president has in effect while his heart is with the protesters, he in effect has endorsed the Mubarak speech which is being so denunciated -- so strongly denunciated on the streets.


KING: Is it a full endorsement in your view? There are some conversation in town about this. He said the transition has to happen sooner. Begin now, so in the sense he is saying yes, President Mubarak is in charge, but he would like him to move more quickly. I guess that's the balance and the tight rope the president of the United States is on. If he backs away from Mubarak completely, what signal does that send to Jordan, to Saudi Arabia, to anyone else in the region and yet he is trying to align himself with these young people in the street?


GERGEN: Exactly, John, and it's a circle you can't square or a square you can't circle. And that's why I wasn't sure why he spoke because I wasn't sure how he could help the situation or help the United States in this dilemma. And I think ultimately Mubarak is going to go within days, not weeks and months. I just don't see how this -- he can continue in power in this situation. And when it's all over, the president wants to be in a situation when he leaves that the United States is going to have continuing influence and friendships in Egypt. And it -- there is a degree to which I think all of us worry that our influence will diminish if we misplay our hand here.


KING: David Gergen, excellent insights from you, David. Thanks for your time tonight. When we come back --


GERGEN: Thank you.

Davos 2011- A Conversation with William J. Clinton

worldeconomicforum on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

David Gergen and Ari Fleischer debate whether the nation can afford to cut education funding to reduce spending.

Conversation with William J. Clinton at The World Economic Forum

Watch live streaming video from worldeconomicforum at livestream.com

Can the U.S. still compete?

(CNN) --President Obama promises to focus his State of the Union tonight on one of the most important domestic questions we have faced in years. Whether he will succeed in moving the nation forward will depend not only on his own leadership but on the willingness of others -- the left, the right and the media -- to put the country first.

The question: Will the United States renew its capacity to compete in global markets so that we create quality jobs for our people here at home? If we do, America's best days are still ahead; if we fail, they will soon be far behind. It's about that simple.

For more than a century, we didn't have to worry much about our greatness as a people. But times have changed. We may be the nation that astonished the world by building a transcontinental railroad. But today, as the president pointed out last month in a visit to North Carolina, we find that Shanghai in China has built more high-speed rail in a year than we have built in the past 30 years.

For most of the 20th century, we were No. 1 in the world in education; today, we are ninth in the proportion of young people with college degrees, 18th in high school graduation rates among industrialized nations and 27th in the proportion of science and engineering degrees. China now graduates more English-trained engineers than the U.S. and has become the world's No. 1 exporter in high technology.

As others have become more competitive and we have slowed, American jobs have been disappearing. According to a 2010 report by a national competitiveness commission sponsored by the National Academies of Science and Engineering, along with the Institute of Medicine, GE has now placed the majority of its R&D personnel outside the U.S. The number of Americans employed in manufacturing in the U.S. computer industry is now lower than when the first personal computer was built in 1975. With foreign-made cars growing in popularity, the number of auto jobs in Michigan has dropped from 460,000 in 1970 to 98,000 today.

Can we turn things around? No one is certain, but the competitiveness commission -- representing some of the best minds in the country -- believes we still have a chance. In the 2010 report, its top four recommendations, in descending order of importance, were:

1. Upgrade U.S. K-12 education in science and math to a leading position by global standards.

2. Double real federal investment in basic research in math, the physical sciences and engineering over the next seven years, while maintaining the recent doubling in bioscience research.

3. Encourage more U.S. citizens to pursue careers in math, science and engineering.

4. Rebuild the nation's "competitive ecosystem" by introducing reforms in our patent, immigration and litigation policies.

None of this is all that expensive. The total annual costs of all of the commission's recommendations, it estimates, would be less than we spend on cigarettes each year -- with $60 billion left over.

How should we judge the president's speech tonight? For starters, we should ask whether he plans a sensible, inexpensive agenda like this or whether, in the name of competition and innovation, he lards it up with a lot of other goodies so beloved by some in his party. Lean and mean is the only way to go.

Second, we should ask whether he accompanies his "investments" in competition with bold, genuine cuts in spending elsewhere in the budget. Those in the private sector arguing for a competitiveness agenda are equally adamant that the nation must simultaneously get its financial house in order. As the president himself has argued, we can't compete with China if we keep borrowing from China.

So, the president faces high bars tonight. But if he clears them, will those who listen be willing to pay serious attention, or will we see more of the caterwauling of recent days?
It has been disappointing this past week to see leading intellectuals on the left greet the competitiveness agenda with such cynicism. Both Paul Krugman and Bob Reich -- whom I like and respect -- have basically argued that Obama is just trying to please the scions of corporate America, people who have fleeced the country in recent years. They don't pay any attention to the fact that the push for a competitive agenda really originated elsewhere -- in the National Academies, for example -- and began long before Obama ran for president. Why can't they give him credit for embracing what scientists and engineers are telling us?

It has been equally disappointing to see the right jump all over Obama's plan to invest in competitiveness as if it is an obvious ruse to protect a swollen federal government. Why can't they give the man a fair hearing before dismissing his efforts? And why in the world would they insist on cutting funds in R&D in science, math, engineering and technology?

Surely, there are good conservatives like Sen. Lamar Alexander -- a longtime champion of competitiveness -- who can help bring the party to a more balanced perspective.
Finally, it has been disappointing to see that many in the media are looking at the State of the Union in almost purely political terms: Will this speech help Obama occupy the center? Will his poll numbers continue to go up? Who will be sitting with whom on the floor? And who will give a better response, Rep. Paul Ryan or Rep. Michele Bachmann?

But where is the analysis of why the country is losing out to Asian competitors and what can be done about it? Where is the fundamental seriousness that the times require?

President Obama has rightly said that we now face "a Sputnik moment." Back a half-century ago, when Ike and then Kennedy were in the White House, we rose to the occasion. Do we still have the right stuff? That's the deeper question lingering in the air.

- David Gergen

JFK50: Kennedy's Idealism and Today's Generation

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