What Obama Said About Egypt in his UNGA Speech

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, President Barack Obama touched upon several key issues relating to the Middle East: Syria, Iran, the Israel-Palestine peace process, as well as dedicating several minutes to speaking about Egypt.

As was to be expected, Obama’s remarks were in keeping with previous US statements on Egypt in the wake of former president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster on July 3. He echoed his statements on Morsi’s short-lived presidency, making passing reference to its lack of inclusiveness. The statement was also followed with a similarly criticism of the current interim government’s lack of democratic inclusiveness.

He was however uncritical of the Egyptian military and security forces, and as was expected in the context of a yet-to-be-made decision on military aid to Egypt, Obama continued to paint recent events in Egypt as a popular uprising, saying “the interim responded to the desires of millions of Egyptians.” He, however, made no reiteration of his condemnations of the violence that the country has witnessed in recent weeks, particularly in the wake of the violent dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-in in Raba’a al-Adaweya, and similarly did not repeat his mention of the “military intervention” that had taken place.

Obama also appeared to defend the US stance on Egypt by referencing a rising anti-American sentiment in Egypt. He said “America has been attacked by all sides of this internal conflict, simultaneously accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and engineering the removal of power.” He added, “In fact, the United States has purposely avoided choosing sides.”

He also made clear that US support for Egypt was based on mutual interests—the Camp David Accords, counter-terrorism efforts, and education promotion—adding the qualifier that US support, most likely in the context of military aid, hinged on “Egypt’s progress in pursuing a more democratic path.”

In Obama’s speech, however, democracy did play second fiddle to those key mutual interests. Not mentioned in the list at all was any explicit reference to standards for human rights, despite ongoing concerns with the violent dispersal of pro-Morsi protests, dwindling media freedom, and a lack of minority rights, to name a few.

Below is the excerpt from Obama’s speech concerning Egypt, as published in the full transcript by the Washington Post.

When peaceful transitions began in Tunisia and Egypt, the entire world was filled with hope. And although the United States, like others, was struck by the speed of transition, and although we did not, and, in fact, could not dictate events, we chose to support those who called for change.

And we did so based on the belief that while these transitions will be hard and take time, societies based upon democracy and openness and the dignity of the individual will ultimately be more stable, more prosperous and more peaceful.

Over the last few years, particularly in Egypt, we’ve seen just how hard this transition will be. Mohamed Morsi was democratically elected but proved unwilling or unable to govern in a way that was fully inclusive. The interim government that replaced him responded to the desires of millions of Egyptians who believed the revolution had taken a wrong term. But it, too, has made decisions inconsistent with inclusive democracy through an emergency law, and restrictions on the press and civil society, and opposition (inaudible).

Of course, America has been attacked by all sides of this internal conflict, simultaneously accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and engineering the removal of power. In fact, the United States has purposely avoided choosing sides. Our overriding interest throughout these past few years has been to encourage a government that legitimately reflects the will of the Egyptian people and recognizes true democracy as requiring a respect for minority rights and the rule of law, freedom of speech and assembly, and a strong civil society. That remains our interest today.

And so going forward the United States will maintain a constructive relationship with the interim government that promotes core interests like the Camp David Accords in (ph) counterterrorism, will continue support in areas like education that directly benefit the Egyptian people, but we have not proceeded with the delivery of certain military systems. And our support will depend upon Egypt’s progress in pursuing a more democratic path.

And our approach to Egypt reflects a larger point: The United States will at times work with governments that do not meet, at least in our view, the highest international expectations, but who work with us on our core interests.

Nevertheless, we will not stop asserting principles that are consistent with our ideals, whether that means opposing the use of violence as a means of suppressing dissent, or supporting the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We will reject the notion that these principles are simply western exports, incompatible with Islam or the Arab world. We believe they are the birthright of every person.

And while we recognize that our influence will, at times, be limited, although we will be wary of efforts to impose democracy through military force, and although we will, at times, be accused of hypocrisy and inconsistency, we will be engaged in the region for the long haul, for the hard work of forging freedom and democracy is the task of a generation. And this includes efforts to resolve sectarian tensions that continue to surface in places like Iraq, Bahrain and Syria.

We understand such long-standing issues cannot be solved by outsiders. They must be addressed by Muslim communities themselves. But we’ve seen grinding conflicts come to an end before, most recently in northern Ireland where Catholics and Protestants finally recognized that an endless cycle of conflict was causing both communities to fall behind a fast-moving world. And so, we believe those same sectarian conflicts can be overcome in the Middle East and North Africa.

Image: Photo: White House (2009)

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What Obama Said About Egypt in his UNGA Speech