allies and bases in the middle east.the last administration and this administration, 3 round of international sanctions. the choice of two path, negotiation or isolation, iran's leaders ignored our choice, using negotiations and partial collaboration to divide the international community, stave off international sanctions and continue their nuclear pursuits. i can only assume iran's leaders calculate the influence and security that they see as provided by nuclear weapons or by reaching the threshold of having them outweigh whatever condemnation and sanctions emerge from the multilateral process. increasingly i would argue we must base our plans and diplomacy on the assumption that iran will have nuclear-weapons. did i mention i am speaking for myself? i want to make that clear. iran's leaders, once nuclear-armed, may not be so suicidal as to launch nuclear attacks against israel, the united states or their partners or allies around the region but iran's leaders may engage in nuclear brinksmanship. dangerous as, tory beha

-middle east policy. ladies and gentlemen, general james jones.plause] >> thank you very much, ladies and gentleman, and thank you martin, for your very kind introduction and for your leadership as the institute's new president. you have 25 years of is to history to live up to an 25 years of institute history to make sure you get it right. [laughter] in order to set the stage for my remarks, i would like to tell you a story that i think it's true. it happened recently. in southern and afghanistan. a member of the taliban was separated from his fighting party. he wandered around for a few days in the desert lost, out of food, no water. he looked on the horizon and he saw what looked like a little shack. he walked toward it. as he got to it, it turned out it was a little store owned by a jewish merchant. the television war went after him and said he needed water. -- the taliban warrior went up and said the need of water per the merchant city did not have water but would you like to buy a tie? the television erupted into a stream of -- the taliban wa

but it was contingent upon acceptance of the resolution on the middle east put forward by the middle east and others. and there'll be an argument for which there is evidence that any ensuing 15 years, very little has been done to fulfill that resolution, which was part of this deal made in 1995. and i hear to litigate or argue one side or the other. i'm saying this is a very big life issues that will be affect the nuclear security in the middle east, u.s. national interest and other states natural interest in the weeks ahead and in the time after that. and just as it's very common at carnegie for the washington and to tutor other places right now to have meetings on iran were refocused on the security inflammations overran another world. what i'm trying to suggest in much of the other road, there is a very different focus, although they're worried about iran, too. there were other elements in other parts of this policy that we're going to get exposed to at the npt in may that we don't normally get exposed to in the u.s. and not to do do with the broader middle east, israel's position

allies and bases in the middle east. we tried thwart their pursuits with diplomacy. the last administration and this administration. with three rounds of international sanctions. we have given tehran a choice of two pounds. negotiation and cooperation or isolations and sanctions. iran's leaders have ignored our choice and have take an third path, using negotiations and partial cooperation to divide the international community and stave off international -- and to continue their nuclear pursuits. i can only assume their leaders calculate that the prestige and security they provide squout weigh whatever condemnation and sanctions emerge from the multilateral process. increasingly, i would argue, we must base our plans and diplomacy on the asthauges iran will have -- assumptions that iran will have nuclear weapons. did i mention that i'm speaking for myself and not the u.s. government. i just want to make that clear. iran's leaders, once nuclear armed may not be so suicidal as to launch nuclear attacks against israel, the united states or their partners or allies in the

middle east peace. i said her goal was to achieve a comprehensive peace in the middle east. that means peace agreements, between israel and the palestinians, between israel and syria and israel and lebanon, but the two-state solution to the israelis and palestinians we believe is key. and we are working on this in three different areas right now. one is the negotiating track. elliott has mentioned why he questioned whether there should be our priority right now. it is one of our priorities. it has not been easy, in part we did not really have a full year. netanyahu government was not prepared to start talking to us. there have been elections in israel. netanyahu government needed to come together so it was in may when the netanyahu government was ready to start talking to us about this and the palestinians waited until after august, when after the five top party congress in bethlehem so it has not been a full year we have been able to engage in both parties but do remember a year ago the israelis and palestinians were just coming out of a war. now, both sides have reaffirmed

how you can security in the middle east, too little, too late. each of those terms, you know, i think, invites a little bit of discussion. and so if what is meant by nuclear security is the security of nuclear materials, the parts that could be made into explosive nuclear weapons, i think you know, ambassador schulte did a great job. i think the message was, you know, relatively positive that there is a lot of effort. the nuclear security summit next week in washington is going to mobilize high-level leadership. of all the big problems in the world, this is one of the more manageable. it's -- the number of site where is the material exists is -- is known. or close to being known. the it is a very finite number. a small number and not too complicated to know what to do with those sites or those materials. it is not an emotionally or historically laden issue. it is not like dealing with this -- or you know, in the middle east or you know, korea and japan where you have all of these legacy issues that very much complicate things. this is a relativel

the middle east offers several challenges. i will list them as follows. nuclear weapons are seen as the ultimate guarantor of sovereign's year. this is the case in pakistan, israel, and iran. do not forget the united states was in this category during the cold war. according to news reports, a terrorist now seen nuclear material has been the must have terror weapon. whatever is agreed of next week's summit, anxieties remain. last october, a terrorist attack pakistan's headquarters. is the nuclear headquarters meant to be secure? they did not get as far as office. the third challenges there remains an unfortunate not overlap in scientific knowledge and technical skills needed to develop a civilian nuclear program or a nuclear program, and the fourth challenges nuclear technology has become an agreement in rivalry. think about the u.s.-led diplomacy in iran and the tolerance towards russian and chinese business links with iran. despite these challenges, there has been progress. pakistan is no longer exporting enrichment technology or any other technology. l

hud has nothing to do with anything connected to the middle east that the arabs were the israelis presented in the form of a solution or an attempt to answer questions whether it revolves around policy or sustainable development. issues of a broader global nature. so is it not the case that we are a non player? if you look at all three of these dimensions, one can argue we are a sorry bunch have perhaps we would clearly deserve a big f from that perspective. and then of course, there is the other question of which we are truly deserving of a piece in particular when one considers the number of opportunities we have lost either by design or through circumstance since 1967. when one considers large segments of one population is ready for the colossal crime, one on the other side there exists a large group of people that cannot grasp the effect of an occupation and the degradation of another people. in deiter recent deserving of peace when the denial there of can so easily be traded in the rhetorical exchanges? ariza deserving of peace could be so easily upstaged with the year and in

the recent history of nuclear weapons in the middle east offers several challenges to this. i would list them as follows: firstly, nuclear weapons are still perceived as the ultimate guarantor of a country's sovereignty. this is the case in pakistan, israel and the way i see it, it ran. but to put this list into some context, don't forget the united states was, along with others, also firmly in this category during the cold war. a second challenge, according to news reports, terrorist of the nuclear materials, atomic bombs themselves as being the must-have terror weapon. whatever is agreed at next week's summit, anxieties will remain. last october, terrorist attacks pakistan's military headquarters in rural india near islamabad, where are pakistan's nuclear weapons kept? i don't know. but i was told deep inside very secure military bases. if the military headquarters meant to be very secure i asked? the terrorists didn't get quite as far as i yanni's office the response. kalyani is the chief of army staff and pakistan. the third challenge is to the remained an unfortunate ov

and a particular challenge for the middle east. will there be enough uae citizens with the relevant skills to staff the power stations? certainly not. where will the take a break staff come from? pakistan has a nuclear establishment estimated greater at 10,000 people strong. could they be tempted to work in the uae? would pakistan stop them going? if the uae continues to forsake nuclear weapons and the technologies to require plutonium and highly enriched uranium there could well be an unfortunate cross-fertilization of knowledge and skills. and if you think i'm unfairly concentrating on the uae and pakistan, think instead of turkey or jordan or morocco or egypt. the challenge for the world today and in terms of today's discussion in the middle east is what bright young engineer or scientist is studying and traveling picking up knowledge and ideas? and what political event is forming the context of that person's thinking? is there a conference on hydrodynamics in the washington, d.c. area this week? what the hell is magnet hydrodyn

now you have the late 20th century in the middle east. where the plo originally while its demands was obsessive was not religious. yasser arafat was hardly the top. if you did not find a means of accommodation in the first stage where they are looking for a political resolution, once it goes into a religion, a religion fuel insurgency, there's no reverse. so on that level, i am not hopeful. the really good haters, the religious if i -- if i -- fanatics. we're in the world of wad borders. but again there's the other level which in the 20th century the countryside came to the cities. it's more cosmopolitan than it is today. whether you speak of cities around the world, as populations expanded, as minor improvements in the public health allowed populations and nourishment and nutrition to explode, the countryside could no longer support them. they went to the cities with a streets whether supposed to be paved with silver, if not gold. and they weren't. cities could thrive. but the speed, even in the lower 48 which americans from the south ca

the middle east is a source for nuclear terrorism one.

none of that the with the middle east, except -- none of that dealt with the middle east, except turkey. basically, those weapons can stay in turkey as long as the turks want, and the u.s. is going to do nothing to remove even nuclear bombs in europe, which are obsolete. we would never use those weapons in a military operation, but we are saying to make people feel reassured, we will leave them there so there will not be a unilateral reduction. the more difficult issue is the question of the middle east, where the u.s. is not cutting tactical nuclear weapons in the region, so in the nuclear deterrence would be from the submarines, lan-based systems in the u.s., and whether that would be necessary, or would it be helpful at a time when you're still trying to persuade iran not to build nuclear weapons of the first office and you're trying to persuade the rest of the world to work with you to press iran. if you then announce, we will use our nuclear weapons against iran if iran does not stop trying to get nuclear weapons area i do not know how that would help the politics, but i do not kno

and certainly, in the middle east, how can arab states not be jealous? centuries of comprehensive failure capped by the modern tragedy of the arabs, not the creation of the state of israel. but who got the oil wealth? now, once upon a time, many centuries ago, there was a blossoming of arab-speaking culture. we know that. and cultures of life cycles and they fade. but the saudis and the gulf emirates were not responsible for that blooming of arab culture a thousand years ago, 1200 years ago. they were tribesmen, they didn't build the great mosques of damascus or cairo. they built sheep pens on a good day and the saudis, the number 1 enemy of the united states, the saudis got so much of the money, and despite that inflow of massive, unprecedented wealth, what has the arab world done? what has it akeyed? where is the world class university? where are the software programs? where are even the early 20t 20th century style automobile factories? it has gone literally into the sapped. the palestinians. what has arab oil wealth done for the palestinians? it has

al qaeda cannot win in the middle east in a more than with iraq. it is a clear lesson how we do with the war on terrorism but everywhere. >> host: one of the things i saw at the time in 2006 with intelligence it was showing clearly people were planting bombs because it was a way to make money they did not have enough money. we're coming up on a break but when we come back the most surprising thing to me five bourse six the nice words you have to say about don rumsfeld and ironically, he may not have been the complete dunderhead that some of us perceive him to be in terms of how he was abrupt with military officers and ignoring military council it is important to elaborate what level of responsibility rumsfeld bair or not bear to allow this political opening to go forward so when we come back we will take up. >> host: welcome back to afterwards tata i am talking to mark perry what about his but "talking to terrorists." i am not talking to a terrorist but somebody who has written one i was surprised to had nice things to say about don rumsfeld that b

, comprehensive peace in the middle east has to conclude a peace agreement between israel and syria. if the israelis and the syrians believe that turkish mitigation will help restore the negotiation we are all for it. >> [inaudible] >> it looks difficult at this point. we have talked a lot to the syrians -- he said recently in an interview he traveled and met with the turkish officials, talks a lot with turkish foreign minister. it's not that easy right now to restore peace negotiations but we believe they must be restarted the some point and to some extent the parties would rich to rely again on turkey's good offices again we would be supportive. sprick what a british high to keep comments brief because we do have the significant number of questions. >> thank you for organizing the conference. it is good to see you. i think you should be feeling good about what you and the administration has shared with iraq. today iraq and democracy is moving forward. iraq has more political parties and newspapers and televisions than all of the arab nations combined so you should feel good and i

and in so much of the greater middle east, women don't have a voice. and less it is heard screaming through a beating. so as far as being a pessimist goes, i'm really not that that human beings have my sound pessimistic because it's a world ugly. but human beings are survivors and we are the cockroaches that have powers of speech. we managed to get through things somehow. but i think you make your way forward much more difficult when you lie, when you pretend that there are no bad human beings. when you pretend that all men want peace. because clearly they don't. the closest some human beings come to being a god is take another wife. the environment, the individual, i've seen them, people who have never had any power in their lives suddenly any disruptive society get a gun. and a badge of some kind. or a shred of uniform. and suddenly you are licensed to kill and abuse him and the people who always earn more money than that with a woman who would give them the time of day suddenly they can be beat, killed, raped, whatever. and make the mistake, at leas

so i think the tragedy is a tragic of the greater middle east.now that said i look at islam for longtime. islam is healthy on its front years. if you go to synagogue or indonesia, it's doing just fine. indonesia, 222 million people, give or take a couple million, of whom well over 90% are muslims, and they produce a couple hundred terrorists. a couple hundred terrorists out of 210 or so million muslims? that's not bad but i did a research project in indonesia, and overall in the nation's just a want any part of it. so are stricter believe that others. one of their ties goes back to the trading routes to mecca in the middle ages did but they don't want any part of it. hinduism and buddhism prevail in indonesia far longer than islam. so look at indonesian islam on the western tip, it's an ammo come. there's a little hinduism, a little buddhism, a lot of animism go thrown in. i don't have time to go into some dollars practices that drive the saudis not but it's different. but indonesia is a frontier for islam. it came in the really, it comes around

he said that the toughest negotiations were always between the parties middle east. one cannot underestimate how difficult this has been for senator mitchell, notwithstanding his enormous credentials and qualifications which, of course, make him the perfect fit for this job. it is just so typical for anyone. we think he has laid the foundations for the launching of discussions on the final stages and i think that is something to be commended. >> in bringing this session to a close, one factotum i did not mention in the introductory remarks and that is there are blocks of countries within the united nations and there is an arab block for various needs and purposes but prior to the most recent election of the current incumbent of united nations, secretary general, all 22 arab countries voted for this individual to be their representative and their candidate for the secretary general of united nations. [applause] i am in the eighth grade and i enjoyed the speech about peace. on behalf of this audience, we could say that the rest of us are in kindergarten and we, too, en

i'm going to go to the middle east. since the middle east say i am interested in america and maybe they're not what i thought they were when i first started. we have 12 partnerships and 2025 for next year. i would love for you to give me suggestions of how schools in the arab world we might connect with. one project in 2011 is called a media fellow program. we want to bring to an emerging women journalists over from throughout the arab world for a briefing session about journalism and media training in washington. then they will go stay in homes throughout the united states and get exposure to local members of the media and stay in the homes of families and wind up with a program and leave new york. we hope in the end we can do more exchange of media fellows. we want to do this every other year. so to all of you better here, you all have a great knowledge of the arab world. you have great curiosity and a great passion. i would like to encourage you to help us in building bridges, come forward to us or our executive dire

my goal for the middle east is never quite true. i have offer these reflections to you not an answer with the may questions that you have roach no doubt for me but in the form of reflections who like you spend a great deal of time looking at the problems of the disease looking at them with the hope and no shortage of frustration but i thank you very much to inviting me and i look forward to answering your money questions. thank you. [applause] >> they hear mr. ambassador as is the custom we have four buy six cards upon which we invite you to write to your questions and his royal highness has agreed to respond to them. we referred to this session as a cerebral massage. [laughter] and among the questions? >> maybe i should stand up. here is one. israeli politicians repeated the phrase the notion that jordan should be the palestinian state given its already palestinian population. how does jordon respond to this proposal and what to related to the question is the future of jordan's large palestinian population? >> that is nice of them

this is a region where sunni muslims are the majority in most countries in the middle east and the shiites have been the agreed minority. iraq had and agreed maturity under the the city's for a long time to change the equation for the first time ever became the ruling sect in iraq. at first i am talking about iraq is a sectarian divide but i also argue in this book that because of the american invasion that divide which is more than the religious one has seek to throw the social fabric of all countries of the middle east that there is now a divide that people feel not religious mostly political and it has disturb the region and it has not come to terms yet to with what iraq has become or what it will become with the americanization and what it means. >> how have you seen this divide buy-out? talking about the unintended consequences of the sadam hussain regime it was one of the unintended consequences what else have you seen documented? >> guest: on the ground in iraq it became apparent in 2004 we did not ask anybody what they were it is very american not to ask but it was very clear when

it poses a threat of a nuclear arms race in the middle east. it poses the threat that we cannot rule out that this regood morning, america will give a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group like al qaeda to use, we can only guess where. and finally, some people say, you know, we coexist with a nuclear soviet union for 40 years, 50 years. we deterred them. deterrence works. deterrence cannot work when you have a government that is religious in nature, many of whose elements are of the belief that the final destruction of israel, even if it cause as nuclear war, would bring on the return of the hidden i amman more -- imman more quickly. you cannot deter a suicide bomber which is in essence what parts of the identify rain government are. we must prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. we must avoid the hobson choice of having the situation where the advisors come into the president and say, mr. president, here are the two choices. one, do nothing and iran will have nuclear weapons in a couple weeks. two, militarily attack iran. we don't want that

i am here with deborah amos, author of "eclipse of the sunnis" power exile and a people in the middle east. deborah, to argue iraq is now a virtual country with so many of its people outside its borders. what does that mean exactly? how does iraq function as a virtual country? >> guest: in the refugee communities in damascus, beirut, iraqis recreate a little bit of home. its most interesting with this population because the internet only came to iraq in 2000 under saddam and then you had to go to a local library or some institution, you had to sign up. it was all quite watched. in 2003, iraqi bloggers took off and in a way they were ahead of other bloggers throughout the region in 2003, so they took to this especially young iraqi stick to this new technology which was new work to them than anybody else in the region. as refugee populations, these are middle class educated people and so, they had their cell phone, they sit in internet cafes, they are in chat rooms with each other, and unlike any other refugee population my know, they are able to keep in touch daily. they watch iraqi televis

thms the middle east but it could be -- this is the middle east but it could be the far east. there are over 28,000 legal thai workers across israel. almost all of them working on farms. this one is run by ronny kadar. ronny says that virtually all her staff are doing jobs that israelis simply don't want to do. >> we have tried to get israelis doing this. it's hard work. it's difficult in the greenhouse. >> two -- thais do it for them. kai has been working here for the last 4 1/2 years. he tells me in israel, he earns double what he could get in thailand. but he's in the firing line. last month, a thai worker here was killed by a rocket fired by militants in gaza. a threat that is all too close. so in the greenhouses of southern israel, there are thousands of thai workers who have traveled halfway around the world to get here when just a few kilomoters away, the barrier into gaza, in the distance, gaza city behind me. and a vast unmany employed palestinian work force -- unemployed palestinian work force many of whom used to work in israel. and across the wall in gaza, i meet k

/middle east policy. ladies and gentlemen, general james jones. [applause] >> thank you all very much. your very kind introduction, and for your leadership as the institute's new president. you have 25 years of institute history to live up toand 25 years of institute presidents watching to make sure you get it right. in order to set the stage for my remarks, i would like to tell you a story that i think is true. it happened recently. it was in southern afghanistan. a member of the taliban was separated from his fighting party and wandered around for a few days in the desert, lost, out of food, no water. he looked on the horizon and saw what looked like a shack. he walked towards that shaq. as he got to it, it turned out it was a little store owned by a jewish merchant. the taliban warrior with up to him and said, "i need water. give me some water." the merchant said, "i am sorry. i do not have any water. but we have a nice sale of ties today." the taliban erupted into a stream of language that i cannot repeat about israel, about jewish people, abo

hamas, hezbollah and the muslim brotherhood, the three most powerful influential movement in the middle east, the great middle ground of islam that we should recruit to our side in the war on terrorism. not al qaeda. al qaeda deserves one outcome and that is to be defeated and to be tracked down wherever they are and to be eliminated. i believe that firmly but the other groups, it is not the case. they can be our allies and they should be. >> host: the initial title of your book in approach probably tracks with what i would call a popular perception, which is we don't talk to terrorists but the reality has been over the years, u.s. policy was never we don't talk to terrorists. it was, we make no concessions. we can negotiate but no concessions. that gets to a more interesting issue of if you are going to talk and not make concessions, what is the point? >> guest: what is the point? you are exactly right. we have always talked to terrorists or at least listened. the african national congress, the plo. you can go down the list of the organizations that after a period of time and painful reflec

it is 1i think needs to put the middle east and to the prospective. often when i sit with my colleagues from the middle east and we are alone and we immediately start sort of whining about the stage of the region it's almost, and it is perhaps the mediterranean in more than arab. it is the tiny and garlic that makes it. [laughter] but we start to complain about everything. we complain about ourselves, we complain about parts of our culture, we complain why it is we are of more advanced than we should be. we turn it into sort of comic relief often when pointing out the shortcomings within our own societies. and then we travel land go to other parts of the world and we notice that, you know, well many problems are the same if not worse than other parts of the world and so maybe we just need to accept the fact that we are societies of transition to the we have much to be proud about. we have in jordan as well as others very vibrant private sector when we look at the ict we look at to companies that have made headlines, one for $200 million that was a sim

as you know, this is a region where sunni muslims are the majority in most countries in the middle east and shiites have been an average minority. iraq was a different place. iraq had an aggrieved majority under the thumb of the sunnis for a long time. the invasion changed the equation, the americanization. they became for the first time ever arab shia became the ruling sector in iraq so i am at first talking about iraq. it is a secretary in the fight but i also argue in this book that because of the american invasion that sunni should i decide which is a power divided in a religious one has seeped through out the social fabric in all of the countries of the mill least that there is now 85 people feel not religious, mostly political, and it has disturbed the region and the region hasn't come to terms yet with what iraq has become and what it will become and what this american invasion means. >> host: what are the other ways you seen this defied plea of? you write about the regional consequences or unintended consequences of removing saddam hussein's regime. obviously the eclipse of the

up next, washington institute forum on nuclear security and the middle east. it is an hour and a half. >> good afternoon and welcome to the washington institute for middle east policy. i am the baker fellow and director of the gulf and energy policy program here. it also falls to me today to share this session. it is one of those curious occasions when i am also a speaker so i hope i will get the balance right. if i have to disagree with any aspect of myself. with me today to address this important topic of too little too late nuclear security in the middle east, gregory schulte and george perkovich. gregory schulte is currently the senior visiting fellow at the national defense university center for the study of weapons of mass destruction. there is no way you can get that on one line. from 2005 to 2009 he served as u.s. permanent representative at the international atomic energy agency in vienna. george perkovich who i had the honor of listening to this morning as he was at his endowment is the vice-president for studies and director of the nuclear policy pr

and you look at the middle east and it is just wallowed in dysfunctional traditions. there was never change. so i think the tragedy of islam is a tragedy of greater relief. with that said, the atkins plan for a a long time. if you go to a synagogue or indonesia is doing just fine. indonesia, 222 million people take a couple million of well over 90% are muslims and they produced a couple hundred terrorists. wait a minute, a couple hundred terrorists are 210 or so billion muslims. that's not bad. i did a research project in indonesia and overall the indonesians just don't want any part of it. some are stricter believers another, et cetera bonded not shaken a few nut cases and the ties go back to trading routes with makkah in the middle ages, but they really don't want any part of hinduism and buddha that prevailed in indonesia parliament in islam so when you look at islam on the western tip of camacho, it's really in our class. there's a lot of animism thrown in. and i don't have time to go into some of the hilarious practices that drive the studies that. but it's very

none of that dealt with the middle east, which is the region here. except turkey where the administration's position, as i understand it, on turkey is basically those weapons can stay in turkey as long as the turks want them. that the u.s. is going to do nothing unilaterally to remove even these tactical nuclear bombs in europe which all the military -- and you know this better than i do. are obsolete. we would never use those weapons in a military operation. but we're saying basically if it pacifies and makes people feel reassured, we'll leave them there so there won't be a unilateral reduction. the more difficult issue is the question of the middle east where it's not so much -- where the u.s. isn't putting tactical nuclear weapons in the region. so any kind of extended nuclear deterrence would be from the systems, the submarines, the land based systems the bombers and the u.s. and whether that would even be necessary or would it be helpful at a time when you're still trying to persuade iran not to build nuclear weapons in the first place. and you'

ships come in from the middle east. years ago, they wanted to build a natural gas platform off the coast of louisiana. they were having a dispute whether to do and open loop or a closed loop system. can you explain the difference in that? guest: i do not know that answer. in terms of importing natural gas, a few years ago, we have much more natural gas than in the united states makes its -- both developments not as likely for as much as they were a few years ago. i am not familiar with opening close links. host: florida, independent. caller: i worked on the texaco account in my 22 years of advertising. i have some statements to make for you. where are they going to be refined? you have to modify various coastal seaports with the same result you had in new orleans, with the destruction for hurricanes. your eastern portion on the map , you got those grants without paying any royalties. you got that for free. host: do you think that is a mistake? caller: i think it was a contrived mistake. these people have so much power.

general jones a middle east envoy. george mitchell now the middle east envoy.ennis ross which whom you worked so closely in the clinton days. do you think they're still practicing a false religion? >> i told colin powell when i left government i would not criticize the administration's policy. that lasted about five seconds, frankly, after i left. >> you just said this administration doesn't have a policy. these are the players. >> absolute plip. there's no question that you're dealing with a group of extremely smart experienced and talent people. i think there are divisions within each administration. i think nine-tenths of barack obama's problem right now is that the israeli/palestinian problem about which he cares a great deal, about which he wants to see resolved is simply not tractable. the one part that is his problem has to do with how he is responding to the reality that there may well not be a solution. >> well, let me ask you in closing what do you do about some other issues in the region? the syrian deputy chief of mission was hauled into the state d

ambassadors to middle east nations discussed the obama administration's approach to the middle east peaceprocess. this is being hosted by the woodrow wilson center. it is just under two hours. good morning. welcome to the wilson center and today's meeting. the obama administration and arab-israeli peace. today's meeting is the 19th session in the forums. we are delighted to have with us today the chairman of the board of the woodrow wilson center, ambassador joseph who has been a supporter of the middle east program. as some of you know, the woodrow wilson international center was established by an act of congress in 1968 and is our nation's official living memorial to president woodrow wilson. the center is a nonprofit institution for policy research and a dialogue. we bring together the thinkers and doers, policy makers, scholars, and business leaders in the hope that open dialogue will lead to better understanding for operations and public policy. we are delighted to have with us today five former u.s. ambassadors, the fifth one is coming from union station, but we are delighted to hav

the three most influential organizations and movements in the middle east. the great middle ground of islam that we should recruit to the war on turkoman notte al qaeda. al qaeda deserves one outcome and that is to be defeated and tracked down wherever they are and to be eliminated. i believe that firmly but for the other groups that is not the case. they can be our allies and should be. >> host: the initial title of your book is with what i would call the popular perception which is we don't talk to terrorist but the reality has been over the years u.s. policy was that we don't talk to terrorists. it was we make no concessions. we can negotiate but no confessions. now i guess the more interesting issue if you are going to talk and not make confessions what is the point? >> yes, what's the point. you are right. we have always talked to terrorists or at least listened. the national conference, the plo. any organization after a period of time and reflection on our part and there's we've actually sat down to compare notes and to see how we can cooperate. it hasn

middle east is called middle east because it is so small it is enough for bombings to happen in one place, for it to start spreading all over the world. and that would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and exodus of people from different countries. and the most bad thing is it will trigger the nuclear arms race. many colleagues from iran will -- arabic world that if iran gets nuclear arms, they will have no scrupeles without having it as well. and this will enlarge the nuclear club and then no summit will help if all of those countries have nuclear arms. that will open a new page in the history of humankind, which will be very sad. and i hope we will be able to agree and will manage to solve this issue by political -- >> mr. president, i really want to thank you for being here. i come from that generation of american people that were involved in the second world war and we certainly had great pride when we went into great britain and france. but i don't think we really thanked the russians enough for the fact being on the east coast and having 25 divisions and i think it made a lot of di

middle east is called middle east because it is so small it is enough for bombings to happen in one place, for it to start spreading all over the world. and that would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and exodus of people from different countries. and the most bad thing is it will trigger the nuclear arms race. many colleagues from iran will -- arabic world that if iran gets nuclear arms, they will have no scrupeles without having it as well. and this will enlarge the nuclear club and then no summit will help if all of those countries have nuclear arms. that will open a new page in the history of humankind, which will be very sad. and i hope we will be able to agree and will manage to solve this issue by political -- >> mr. president, i really want to thank you for being here. i come from that generation of american people that were involved in the second world war and we certainly had great pride when we went into great britain and france. but i don't think we really thanked the russians enough for the fact being on the east coast and having 25 divisions and i think it made a lot of di

i think it is good for us in the long run, good for america and the middle east. we maybe should think about finding the same sort of help and africa where our universities could be there in partnership with african universities and build their capacity, even as there is an architecture school from the university of north dakota their. i think he should really think about it. this is a very discreet strategy that universities are following in the middle east. it is going to be good for our foreign policy, but it is only because they are rich. we really need to do this where people are not rich. i think he should really look that. . . they thank them for the generosity. we have that online at the website. you can affect the video on a the look of the video on malaria and aids. you can see the heart wrenching stories. the most have successful outcomes. we have had a lot of the european governments during the equivalent there. the awareness of the program is not the fraud. -- that brought thad. their generosity is important as well. global health is more visible toda

ambassadors to middle east nations discussed the obama administration's approach to the middle east peace process. this is being hosted by the woodrow wilson center. it is just under two hours. good morning. welcome to the wilson center and today's meeting. the obama administration and arab-israeli peace. today's meeting is the 19th session in the forums. we are delighted to have with us today the chairman of the board of the woodrow wilson center, ambassador joseph who has been a supporter of the middle east program. as some of you know, the woodrow wilson international center was established by an act of congress in 1968 and is our nation's official living memorial to president woodrow wilson. the center is a nonprofit institution for policy research and a dialogue. we bring together the thinkers and doers, policy makers, scholars, and business leaders in the hope that open dialogue will lead to better understanding for operations and public policy. we are delighted to have with us today five former u.s. ambassadors, the fifth one is coming from union station, but we are delighted to ha

if you pack up and leave, it will create a complete quagmire in the middle east. they will have more interest in to the fact that the sovereign countries -- it could fault under attack by this country's once the overran by these militant governments. host: thanks for sharing. independence, jamal from pittsburgh. caller: my first point was that basically prior to 2001, he was on an oil board with president bush. host: who was on and will board? caller: karzai. he was basically there to put an oil pipeline through his country. only being less than 100 al qaeda in the country and being the only controls the capital we are actually gaining territory through our military effort to block the country so that he can control, at that we do not know you will be the control of the future. host: "the new york times" writes that the battle with al qaeda. we go to st. louis and on our republican mine is randy. what do you think the u.s. should do with president karzai? is he a credible partner? caller: let's just hope he is. back on 9/11 when we got attacked from bin laden, it

none of that dealt with the middle east which is the region here except turkey were the administration's position as i understand it on turkey is basically the weapons can stay there as long as the turks want them. the u.s. will do nothing unilaterally to remove even these tactical nuclear bombs in europe which all the military and you know this better than i do are obsolete. we would never use those in the military operation but we are saying basically to pacify and make people feel real assured will leave them there so there isn't a unilateral production. the more difficult issue is the question and of the not so much with the u.s. isn't putting tactical nuclear weapons in the region so any kind of extended nuclear deterrence would be from the systems, the summer rains, the land base systems and the bombers in the u.s. and whether that would even be necessary or would be helpful at a time when you're still trying to persuade iran not to build a clear weapons in the first place and try to persuade iran's neighbors and the rest of the world to work with you to press iran. he then announc

it poses a threat of a nuclear arms race in the middle east. it poses the threat that we cannot rule out that this regood morning, america will give a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group like al qaeda to use, we can only guess where. and finally, some people say, you know, we coexist with a nuclear soviet union for 40 years, 50 years. we deterred them. deterrence works. deterrence cannot work when you have a government that is religious in nature, many of whose elements are of the belief that the final destruction of israel, even if it cause as nuclear war, would bring on the return of the hidden i amman more -- imman more quickly. you cannot deter a suicide bomber which is in essence what parts of the identify rain government are. we must prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. we must avoid the hobson choice of having the situation where the advisors come into the president and say, mr. president, here are the two choices. one, do nothing and iran will have nuclear weapons in a couple weeks. two, militarily attack iran. we don't want that

there is never a right situation for peace in the middle east.i worked in the 1980's where there was in negotiation with arafat with the reagan administration. a statement was made that he would recognize israel in return for us except in the agreement. one person called me the night before they were going to make the announcement. he said, can you confirm to me that this is going to happen. he asked what i thought the odds of this working work. i chuckled. he got really angry and furious. this is not a joking manner. i said, you did not understand my chuckle. if there is a 25% of this working, go for it. we do not wait for things to be 60% or 70%. he said, we are going ahead. but then arafat the next morning made an embarrassing remark for the king. we try confidence measures. they work as long as they're supporting another process. i agree with dan about the policies and the need for a policy and for enunciation. what i would say to the president is there is a need for a very strong and active u.s. effort. people want it in the region and ameri

and the new approach comes amid talk of a new obama peace plan for the middle east. joining me to talk about all of this are rashid khalidi, professor of arab studies at columbia university and bret stephens, a frequent guest here. so, bret, what petraeus seems to be saying, look, i'm out there, i'm talking to these arab leaders. it hurts our relationship with them. it makes it more difficult for them to ally with us. they all complain about this. so he's sort of reflecting that ground reality, no? >> well, i think there's some element of truth to that. and it's certainly convenient for our political leaders to make the case that discontent in their country has to do with what settlements israel might be build in parts of jerusalem as opposed to, say, their own policies, mubarak's repression of egyptians, the repressive policies in saudi arabia. so, of course they're going to blame israel and not sort of look at their own mismanagement. and when you look at actually the jihadi complaints against the west, obviously they include israel, of course they include the sett

privilege to share with assistant secretary feltman and abrams not just because their efforts in the middle east have played such a single rule of american policy over the last nine years and also in my thinking about the region. it was a -- as i read in the book it was a great time to be an american in the region. it was a privilege to be represented by u.s. government that had taken the side of freedom. i lived in beirut during the day of what we have come to called the seizure revolution where many lebanese were guarded -- regarding mr. abrams as the deputy national security adviser for the global democracy

. >> charlie: let me turn to the middle east and the israeli-palestinian conflict and ability so far -- and the inability so far to come to any kind of lasting agreement. therefrom has been some indication that you either said or testified or put in a memo that unless we can do something about that, it's going to be much more difficult to do our job in the region and secondly, that it gave all of the people that we were contending with, the absence of a middle east peace, talking points to make their case? >> yeah, in the posture statement that i submitted -- the annual posture statement for the house armed services committee, 56-page document nthere we described the factors that influenced the context within which we brate operate, noting illinois and palestinian territories not in central command but what happens there does have an influence there obviously on the arab world and we listed these 11 factors that included al qaeda, shia extremism supported by iran piracy, inadequate governance in some cases, inequities of wealth, and the lack of progress on a just middle east peace --