Some in Arab world wary of Clinton

واضح آرشیو وب فارسی:ايرنا: Some in Arab world wary of Clinton
US-Obama-The Washington Post
US President-elect Barack Obama"s decision to turn to Clinton as his point person on foreign policy is somewhat ironic, given the intensive effort of some of his aides during the campaign to disparage her foreign policy experience, The Washington Post said.

The biggest determinant for Clinton"s success, according to former State Department officials, is the kind of working arrangement she is able to establish with Obama, with whom she had a testy relationship during the primaries that seemed to warm up during the general election campaign.

Many foreign policy experts are privately baffled that Obama would deliver such a key job to someone from outside his close circle of supporters.

Arabs, particularly Palestinians, are nervous that Obama seems prepared to give the job of top diplomat to a senator from New York who has spent eight years cultivating her pro-Israel constituency and would continue, they think, a lack of US evenhandedness in refereeing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Diplomats and foreign policy experts say Clinton would bring to Foggy Bottom one of the leading voices in the Senate for a new US commitment to more aggressive diplomacy.

They say she would push hard for a Middle East peace deal, in keeping with the activist approach taken by President Bill Clinton in the final years of his administration.

Some who have worked closely with Hillary Clinton during her years as first lady and as a senator say that these predictions miss the point that she would be looking to fashion practical solutions to the issues of Middle East peace, Iran"s nuclear program, Iraq"s political future and other problems that would confront her and Obama next year.

During her recent time in the Senate, Clinton focused more on "hard power" as a member of the Armed Services Committee, gaining knowledge of Iraq, Afghanistan and NATO -- all subjects likely to occupy her attention as secretary of state.

She acquired a reputation as someone sympathetic to the needs and concerns of the military while initially supporting President Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although Clinton later came to criticize the conduct of the Iraq war and called for a U.S. withdrawal, her vote in favor of a bill authorizing Bush to go to war became a flash point in her battle with Obama for the Democratic nomination.

Obama was a much earlier opponent of the war and used the issue to sow doubts about Clinton"s judgment.

Clinton also clashed with Obama over Iran, ridiculing his stated willingness to sit down with Iran"s leaders without preconditions.

She sought to paint Obama as naive and unprepared for the commander-in-chief job, while Obama"s team portrayed his rival as reckless.

Many people close to Clinton say that the actual differences between the two are minimal, and that as secretary she would have little problem carrying out his policies.

Both have made clear they would like to redeploy forces from Iraq and focus more intensively on the struggle in Afghanistan.

Amjad Atallah, who formerly served as a legal adviser for the Palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with the Israelis, said the prospective Clinton nomination is being watched warily in the Arab world, given her unstinting support for Israel in recent years and hawkish comments on Iran.

Some worry that her selection is a possible indicator that Obama may not be as aggressive as Palestinians hope in pushing for a peace deal.

"Nobody has a negative opinion of Senator Clinton, except maybe that her opinions are closer to the neoconservatives than they might wish," Atallah said.

Others close to Obama and Clinton say such fears are misplaced.

Obama, they say, is extremely interested in an early push on the Middle East, while Clinton has made clear that she sees much more aggressive US engagement as critical to success in the region.

"Whether or not the United States makes progress in helping broker a final agreement, consistent US involvement can lower the level of violence and restore our credibility in the region," she wrote in Foreign Affairs last year.

Clinton would enter the world of diplomacy benefiting from the high esteem for her husband around the world, where many associate Bill Clinton"s presidency with aggressive diplomacy in the Middle East and elsewhere.

In an interview with a small group of journalists Friday, Javier Solana, the top diplomat for the European Union, said he hoped that Obama would "move very fast" to engage in the Middle East peace process and made clear that he thought Clinton would be an enthusiastic proponent of such an approach.

"The name "Clinton"," Solana said, "is well taken, well appreciated."
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