President Bush Prepares For Middle East Transition

Jerusalem – The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that President George W. Bush plans to prepare a series of recommendations for his successor on the Middle East.

Mr. Bush has ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to prepare files for his successor on such issues as Arab-Israeli negotiations, a Palestinian state, Iraq, Iran, Libya and other Middle East issues.

“The president’s priority is domestic, and the Middle East is right now about maintaining stability and leaving key issues for the next administration,” a Bush administration official commented.

Ms. Rice has scheduled a Middle East tour immediately after the U.S. presidential elections. Tomorrow, the U.S. Secretary of State will begin a series of visits that will include Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt.

“While in the region, she will meet with her Quartet counterparts and senior government officials to discuss efforts to achieve positive and lasting peace in the region consistent with the Annapolis process and the shared goal of a two-state solution,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

U.S. Security Coordinator James Jones has concluded a report that outlines Israeli security requirements in the formation of a Palestinian state. Mr. Jones is expected to remain in his post under any next administration.

Ms. Rice was expected to visit Gulf Cooperation Council states for the last time under the Bush administration. Officials acknowledged that several GCC states, particularly Saudi Arabia, have reduced contacts with the secretary.

Mr. Bush has also ordered the U.S. intelligence community to brief presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama on Middle East and other major issues. They said Mr. Bush wanted to ensure that the candidates were updated on threats to the United States, particularly concerning al-Qaida.

“What we proposed to the administration is give us the opportunity to tee up intelligence substance to the leading candidates before the conventions,” U.S. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell said.

“We came up with 13 topics. If you made a list, you’d probably get 11 or 12 of the 13. It’s the normal things you would expect. We made those available to the campaigns.”

Sen. John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, Max Boot, sees the next president facing a “daunting array of challenges in the broader Middle East.” These range from preventing terror attacks, stemming weapons proliferation, maintaining the free flow of oil and protecting U.S. allies from Afghanistan to Israel.

Mr. Boot made his comments to a conference organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Richard Danzig, a senior adviser to Sen. Barack Obama, said any Democratic administration must revise U.S. policy toward Iran. Mr. Danzig, a former secretary of the navy, said the next president must be willing to negotiate a resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

“Regarding Iran – a threat to regional stability and an existential concern for Israel – the United States and its allies should pursue a preventive strategy that involves tasty carrots and big sticks,” Mr. Danzig said. “Washington should not rely on a fundamentally risky strategy of deterrence. The Bush administration’s policy of refusing to talk to Tehran has failed, and the regime has continued to produce enriched uranium.”