Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Two questions I wish Obama would be asked about the Middle East

1- The Bush administration, in a manner open enough that it appeared in the New York Times attributed to an administration official, adopted the policy that Iran must not have "one spinning centrifuge" either for negotiations to begin or as a final outcome of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Has that policy been changed? Will the US now accept some amount of uranium enrichment on Iranian soil?

2- Hosni Mubarak is an authoritarian dictator who you've described as good for the region because of his relations with Israel. Of course Hamas has poor relations with Israel but actually won an election. Is the message that relations with Israel are more important than democracy as a US interest in the Middle East? Are you willing to say you prefer Egypt be under an authoritarian dictatorship than have an elected government that would be less cooperative with Israel?

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