Bush adviser: Iran, Pakistan key Obama challenges

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Bush adviser: Iran, Pakistan key Obama challenges​

Updated at: 0546 PST, Wednesday, January 07, 2009
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush's national security adviser said Tuesday that Iran is the biggest challenge President-elect Barack Obama will face in the Middle East and that more sanctions will be needed to force Tehran to forgo its nuclear ambitions and support for extremists.

Outside the Mideast, the next administration's top priority should be stabilizing an increasingly volatile Pakistan, Stephen Hadley said.

In a nearly hour-long interview with media, Hadley said the Bush White House has been trying to “shore up and store up leverage'' on Iran to bequeath to the Obama administration. Obama's challenge, he said, will be to use those sanctions to force Iran to change its behavior.

Saying that European officials have pointed to Tehran's dependence on gasoline imports and its need for additional refining equipment, Hadley added that “one of the questions is whether these kinds of vulnerabilities provide a potential source of leverage, and this is the kind of dialogue that we will continue to have with the Europeans.''

While the Middle East presents challenges, he said Obama might also find his biggest foreign policy opportunity there, in the form of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians. That's a lofty goal considering the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

Last month, Obama suggested a combination of economic incentives and tighter sanctions might persuade the Iranian government to change its behavior and alter its nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies believe that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities and has demanded it suspend its enrichment program, but Tehran insists it is interested only in nuclear power generation.

Iran, however, has rejected the carrot-and-stick approach as unacceptable and insists it has the right to continue.

Hadley would not offer advice on whether the incoming administration should increase dialogue with Iran. But, he said, the U.S. “would be foolish to talk without leverage, because talking and negotiating without leverage won't get you a deal that will advance your interests. If you want to change the behavior of a country like Iran, you have to have leverage.''

And right now, he said, the U.S. is still short of the leverage needed to force that change.

 

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Biden to visit Pakistan on fact-finding mission​

WASHINGTON: The United States’ vice president-elect is expected to visit the South-Asian region on a week-long fact-finding trip.

Mr Joseph R. Biden is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday with a bipartisan delegation of the US Senate. They are also expected to visit Afghanistan and possibly Iraq.

India is not known to be on their itinerary.

A statement from Mr Biden’s office said the trip was designed to help with upcoming reviews that the executive and legislative branches would be taking in coming months of US policy towards the region.

In the new set-up, the Democrats will control both the executive and legislatives branches. This places them in a unique position to redesign US policies.

The visit is particularly important for Pakistan as the new Congress will take up two major legislative measures that directly concern the country – the Biden-Lugar and ROZ bills.

One of them – the Biden-Lugar bill – can bring as much as $15 billion for Pakistan over a period of 10 years, while the other – the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones bill – would help establish specially-designated areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan that could export products to the US without any duty.

Since the delegation will visit both Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can be safely guessed that their talks with officials in Kabul and Islamabad will focus on the US-led war on terror being fought on the borders of the two states.

Officials in Washington say that their efforts to improve relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are showing positive results. The two countries have increased their cooperation in the war against terror and they also are working closely with the US military deployed in the region.

The Obama team has already declared that it considers the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants as its first priority and will be shifting troops and other resources from Iraq to Afghanistan to combat the militants.

India’s exclusion from the tour means that while Mr Biden and his delegation may discuss the Mumbai terror attack and its aftermath with the Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, this will not be the focus of their visit.

Mr Biden’s team includes two Democrats -- Senators John Kerry and Jack Reed – and two Republicans – Senators Susan Collins and Lindsay Graham.

For security reasons, his Senate office did not disclose details of the itinerary, confirming only that he would visit Southwest Asia. The geographic description, however, suggests he would visit Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr Biden’s office said the senator was making the trip in his capacity as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, a post he has to resign before becoming vice president on Jan. 20.

Senator Kerry, who is included in the delegation – is expected to replace Mr Biden as the next chairman of the committee. The other three senators accompanying Mr Biden are members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.

Mr Biden’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement that the delegations ‘will make it clear to foreign leaders that they are not there to speak on behalf of the US government, or convey policy positions for the incoming administration’.

The spokeswoman did not respond to questions about why Mr Biden thought it was important to make the trip so close to his inauguration as vice president.

Observers have noted that Mr Biden’s new status gives an added significance to the visit, particularly because this is the first fact-finding mission headed by a senior member of the new administration.