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Sunday, July 15, 2012
[Disturbing absence of strong statement on honoring Egypt-Israel treaty: SECRETARY CLINTON Remarks With Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: When the U.S. Secretary of State walks up to a
microphone you can be certain that every word in the prepared remarks was
carefully chosen and reviewed. For that matter, practically every word in
the Q&A was carefully prepared. That's why if you compare across Q&A's you
find virtually identical sound bites.

So let's review the carefully prepared messages from Secretary of State
Clinton - followed by a remark from he Egyptian foreign minister:

SECRETARY CLINTON:

From prepared statement: More than three decades ago, Egypt and Israel
signed a treaty that has allowed a generation to grow up without knowing
war. And on this foundation, we will work together to build a just,
comprehensive, regional peace in the Middle East based on two states for two
people with peace, security, and dignity for all.

We believe America’s shared strategic interest with Egypt far outnumber our
differences.

From Q& A: Obviously, we think it’s important for all the nations in the
region to try to maintain peace and stability, especially with so many
economic challenges facing the region. And we certainly support the
continuation of the peace agreement, because we think, as I said, it has
brought great benefits to Egypt and will continue to do so, enabling the
President to focus on the economic conditions and the internal political
situation here in the country.

FOREIGN MINISTER AMR: (Via interpreter.) I would like to add something about
the peace treaty. Mr. President has repeatedly reaffirmed, and on all
occasions, that Egypt continues to respect all treaties signed as long as
the other party to the treaty respects the treaty itself. And today, he once
again reiterated this issue and also reiterated that Egypt’s understanding
of peace is that it should be comprehensive, exactly as stipulated in the
treaty itself. And this also includes the Palestinians, of course, and its
right to – their right have their own state on the land that was – the pre
June 4th, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

That's right. In her prepared remarks, Secretary Clinton put the treaty
into the context of being a "foundation" for pushing for the creation of a
Palestinian state. And that with a reference to the Obama teams favorite
concept "dignity".

A reminder: "dignity" in the Obama lexicon has as much weight as
"security". So while Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have no problem that Granny
and a 4 year old going through an American airport may be subject to a
random full body search, they have a problem with "humiliating" checkpoints
designed to detect bombs being carried across by a population of which,
according to their own polls, a large portion supports bombing Israeli
civilians inside Israel. And if you think that the "dignity" provision has
been a problem until now - just wait and see how "dignity" could be used as
an argument against a broad variety of security related final status
arrangements.

And the very next words out of her mouth?

"We believe America’s shared strategic interest with Egypt far outnumber our
differences ."

So in her prepared remarks, Secretary of State Clinton did not include an
explicit reference to Egypt having to honor the treaty, and she then gave a
heavy hint that the U.S. interest in Egypt go well beyond Egypt-Israel.

In the Q&A we have "we think it’s important for all the nations in the
region to try to maintain peace and stability" instead of "we think it’s
important for all the nations in the region to maintain peace and stability"

And then "we certainly support the continuation of the peace agreement".

Yes. That's the strongest thing she could say.

This followed by what has now become a disturbing Egyptian sound bite that
has become the standard Egyptian line;"that Egypt continues to respect all
treaties signed as long as the other party to the treaty respects the treaty
itself. "

And then we have an extremely dangerous addition that indicates how Egypt
may justify the position that Israel has not respected the treaty: "Egypt’s
understanding of peace is that it should be comprehensive, exactly as
stipulated in the treaty itself. And this also includes the Palestinians, of
course, and its right to – their right have their own state on the land that
was – the pre June 4th, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital."

Does this mean that it is now Egypt's position that Israel is not respecting
the treaty if it declines to divide Jerusalem and retreat to the green line?

This is what Secretary Clinton said in response: [NOTHING].

==========================

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Presidential Palace

Cairo, Egypt

July 14, 2012
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/07/195027.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOREIGN MINISTER AMR: (Via interpreter.) I’m delighted to have Mrs. Clinton,
the U.S. Secretary of State here for the first time to Egypt since the
revolution. It’s a very important visit, and especially in light of the
U.S.-Egyptian historic relation, which serve the interest of both countries
and which go back to 40 years ago.

Today, Mrs. Clinton had a very prolonged meeting with the President, and she
addressed – they addressed several issues concerning bilateral relations and
also the situation in the region and both parties’ visions on these issues.
With respect to these issues, the talks were amicable and friendly and
frank.

Without much ado, I’ll give you the way to – the chance to speak now, and
afterwards we’ll take two questions from both sides.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Foreign Minister. And I want to
thank you and President Morsi for a warm welcome and a very thorough
conversation about a number of important issues confronting Egypt and the
region.

This is, of course, a time marked by many historic firsts, and it is very
clear that Egyptians are in the midst of complex negotiations about the
transition, from the composition of your parliament to the writing of a new
constitution to the powers of the president. Only Egyptians can answer these
questions, but I have come to Cairo to reaffirm the strong support of the
United States for the Egyptian people and for your democratic transition.

This afternoon, President Morsi and I began a constructive dialogue about
the broad, enduring relationship between the United States and Egypt for the
21st century. We discussed the challenges ahead and how the United States
and Egypt can work together in a spirit of mutual respect and mutual
interests.

First, we discussed how the United States can support the Egyptian people
and their aspirations and in particular the economic package outlined by
President Obama to relieve up to one billion dollars in Egypt’s debt as its
democratic transition moves forward. In close consultation with the United
States Congress, the Obama Administration is preparing to provide budget
support to help Egypt stabilize its economy and to use debt relief to foster
innovation, growth, and job creation. As Egypt takes these steps to shore up
your economy, we will support you with international financial institutions
and other donors.

We are also focused on increasing trade, investment, and entrepreneurship to
create jobs and are ready to make available $250 million in loan guarantees
to Egyptian small-and-medium-sized businesses. We are sending a high-level
delegation of American businesses in early September to explore new
investment and trade opportunities, and we will be creating the U.S.-Egypt
Enterprise Fund. We’ll launch that fund with $60 million. We have prominent
Egyptian and American business leaders who will run it. It is modeled on
what we have done that has worked in other countries before.

Second, the President and I discussed the importance of keeping Egypt’s
democratic transition moving forward, and I commended him on his pledge to
serve all Egyptians, including women and minorities and to protect the
rights of all Egyptians. President Morsi made clear that he understands the
success of his presidency and, indeed, of Egypt’s democratic transition
depends on building consensus across the Egyptian political spectrum, to
work on a new constitution at parliament, to protect civil society, to draft
a new constitution that will be respected by all, and to assert the full
authority of the presidency.

And thirdly, we discussed Egypt’s role as a leader in the region. I
commended the President for going to the African Union Summit to reassert
Egyptian leadership in Africa and emphasized the importance of upholding
Egypt’s international agreements. More than three decades ago, Egypt and
Israel signed a treaty that has allowed a generation to grow up without
knowing war. And on this foundation, we will work together to build a just,
comprehensive, regional peace in the Middle East based on two states for two
people with peace, security, and dignity for all.

We believe America’s shared strategic interest with Egypt far outnumber our
differences. And we know that Egypt’s future is up to the Egyptian people,
but we want to be a good partner. We want to support the democracy that has
been achieved by the courage and sacrifice of the Egyptian people and to see
a future of great potential be realized for the nearly 90 million people of
Egypt who are expecting that to occur.

Thank you very much.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter.) Mohamad Soliman from Nile News. You say that
the U.S. supports the democratic transition in Egypt, but some believe that
some statements made by U.S. officials have a negative impact on efforts to
reach consensus among the various Egyptian parties. What’s your comment to
that?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we do support the democratic transition, but we
know that it is for Egyptians to decide your way forward. And what we have
tried to do, President Obama and I, is to stress democracy is hard. We have
been at this for more than 236 years, and it requires dialogue and
compromise and real politics. So we are encouraged, and we want to be
helpful, but we know that it is not for the United States to decide. It is
for the Egyptian people to decide, and we will continue to support the
Egyptian people making these decisions in the best way that we can.

MS. NULAND: On the U.S. side, Reuters, Arshad Mohammed, please.

QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, do you regret in retrospect that successive
American administrations supported the Mubarak government, which for so many
years repressed and sought to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood, including
at times imprisoning President Morsi, whom you just met? And secondly, did
President Morsi raise with you the case of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the
cleric who is in prison in the United States? And if so, what was your
response?

SECRETARY CLINTON: The answer to the second question is no.

Answer to the first question is we worked with the government of the country
at the time. We work with governments around the world. We agree with some
of them; we disagree with others of them. We were consistent in promoting
human rights and speaking out for an end to the emergency law, an end to
political prisoners being detained. So I think you have to put this in
context.

The United States has relations with every nation in the world, and we stand
for democracy and human rights, but it’s not always easy for countries to
transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic ones. Sometimes it’s
very bloody, with great loss. Egypt took a different path, and we now are
doing all we can to support the democratically elected government and to
help make it a success in delivering results for the people of Egypt.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter.) It’s two questions. And first one concerns
have – has the U.S. or yourself taken any steps to bring President Morsi and
Netanyahu together, especially that some people raise the possibility of
amending some of the provisions of the peace treaty? And the second question
concerns the U.S. position vis-a-vis the Palestinian reconciliation efforts.
And there’s an understanding that the U.S. is opposed to that and also
opposed to the Palestinians turning to the United Nations. So the question
is if you were in President – in the Palestinian President’s shoes, what
exactly would you do with regard to this issue?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we – as to the first question, it is up to the two
nations and the President and the Prime Minister to make their own
scheduling plans. We have done nothing. That’s not our role; that would not
be appropriate. Obviously, we think it’s important for all the nations in
the region to try to maintain peace and stability, especially with so many
economic challenges facing the region. And we certainly support the
continuation of the peace agreement, because we think, as I said, it has
brought great benefits to Egypt and will continue to do so, enabling the
President to focus on the economic conditions and the internal political
situation here in the country.

And as to your second question, I’m in very close communication with
President Abbas. I met with him last Friday in Paris. Our goal is to help
bring about the two-state solution. And we know that it can only happen if
there is a negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that
can only happen if all Palestinians are committed to seeking a political
resolution and renouncing violence.

So reconciliation is up to the Palestinians, and I commend the Egyptian
Government for all the work that Egypt has done. But at the end of the day,
the factions of the Palestinians themselves have to determine whether they
are committed to a negotiation that will result in a state which they
deserve and which the Palestinian people have every reason to expect, or
whether there will be diversions and other actions that do not promote that.
And I personally believe, having watched this closely now for more than 20
years, that it’s imperative there be a negotiated resolution. And I will
continue to do everything I can to bring that about.

FOREIGN MINISTER AMR: (Via interpreter.) I would like to add something about
the peace treaty. Mr. President has repeatedly reaffirmed, and on all
occasions, that Egypt continues to respect all treaties signed as long as
the other party to the treaty respects the treaty itself. And today, he once
again reiterated this issue and also reiterated that Egypt’s understanding
of peace is that it should be comprehensive, exactly as stipulated in the
treaty itself. And this also includes the Palestinians, of course, and its
right to – their right have their own state on the land that was – the pre
June 4th, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

MS. NULAND: (Inaudible) CNN, Elise Labott, please.

QUESTION: Thank you, Madam Secretary. You spoke last week about the parties
needing to – in Egypt – needing to get together and settle their political
differences. And today you spoke about President Morsi needing to assert the
full authority of his office. But I’m wondering if you’re equating the SCAF,
which seems to have undemocratically overstayed its welcome in the political
sphere, with an elected president and parliament that you yourself said was
brought to office in a free and fair election. I mean, is there a moral
equivalence there, or should the SCAF be kind of pulling back now? Thank
you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, again, Elise, this is first and foremost a question
for the Egyptian people. But the United States supports the full transition
to civilian rule with all that entails. And we have commended the SCAF for
representing the Egyptian people in the revolution, as compared to what we’re
seeing in Syria, which is the military murdering their own people. The SCAF
here protected the Egyptian nation, and we commend them for overseeing a
free, fair election process. But there is more work ahead, and I think the
issues around the parliament, the constitution have to be resolved between
and among Egyptians. I will look forward to discussing these issues tomorrow
with Field Marshal Tantawi and in working to support the military’s return
to a purely national security role.

And I would only add that this is not an uncommon issue in these
transitions. If you look at Latin America, you look at Asia, you look at the
former Soviet Union, other countries have gone through these transitions,
especially from authoritarian, military-dominated rule. So I am confident
that the Egyptian people, acting in the interest of all the people, can
resolve these questions themselves.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MS. NULAND: Translation please.

INTERPRETER: Yes.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Can she translate my answer, please?

INTERPRETER: (In Arabic.)

QUESTION: (Off mike.)

QUESTION: (Off mike.)

QUESTION: (Off mike.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: You know, this is great evidence of a free press, which
is part of democracy. Thank you

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