Congressman says region excited about Obama

By Mark Fischenich

MANKATO — Congressman Tim Walz said his recent trip to the Middle East was informative, but people in the region are thinking Barack Obama’s visit — including his speech at Cairo University today — could be transformative.

“They’ve said every TV from Morocco to Indonesia will be on,” said Walz, who joined three Democratic senators for stops in Israel, Syria and Turkey last week. “There’s huge anticipation for this.”

Along with meeting the leaders of those three countries, Walz got a sense of what average people in the region are thinking. As in other parts of the world, there’s a strong fascination with Obama.

Among many in the Middle East, there was disbelief he would be elected after he stated a willingness to talk with leaders of even those Arab countries America had long considered enemies.

“They thought the system was rigged,” Walz said. “They thought there was no way that America would choose someone who wanted to engage.”

Obama will be attempting to start building a more constructive relationship between the United States and the 1.5-billion-strong Muslim world. And he is hoping to broker lasting peace between Israel, its neighboring countries and the Palestinian people.

That’s been a goal of his predecessors as well, but the Middle East is more optimistic it can happen, Walz said.

“The chance for peace is as great as it’s been in decades in the average person’s mind,” he said, and most of that is based simply on expectations related to Obama.

“The most popular man in the Middle East is Barack Obama,” Walz said. “Two years ago, it was Osama bin Laden.”

Making his first trip to the Middle East, Walz traveled with Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The delegation met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kaufman and Walz met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Along with fact-finding, the meetings also brought the lawmakers’ perspectives to the Middle Eastern leaders, Walz said. He told the Israelis he believes the growing number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank were hampering the prospects for peace and that the Turkish government should acknowledge the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Armenians following World War I.

The most controversial stop was the one in Syria as Kaufman and Walz were the first congressional visitors there since Congress renewed sanctions against that country in May. The U.S. government has criticized Syria’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah, suspects the country was responsible for the assassination of Lebanese leader Rafiz Hariri, and believes Syria has done little to stop Islamic militants from using its border to cross into Iraq to fight American forces.

That last issue was one Walz said he emphasized.

“I was very clear with President Assad that I needed him and we needed him to address this issue of foreign fighters crossing his border,” Walz said.

A retired member of the Army National Guard, Walz said he told Assad that he has friends and former colleagues who have fought in Iraq.

“I made it clear to him that it’s very personal,” he said.

The American military presence in the Middle East is another reminder of the region’s importance to United States, said Walz, who shares Obama’s belief that engagement is valuable — even with enemies.

“Obviously this region has huge implications for the security of the United States and the rest of the world,” he said. “... We have southern Minnesotans who are protecting and fighting for our nation in the Middle East.”

But the effectiveness of congressional trips or an Obama speech won’t be known until leaders in the region show whether or not they’re willing to change their behavior and their policies, Walz said.

“Actions speak louder than words. We’ll have to see what happens.”