…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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All Ears, will Obama Break the Silence – what?

by Courtesy

Obama to deliver a speech on ‘Arab Spring’
The address aims at spelling out US policy toward waves of political changes sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.
Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 19 May 2011 01:02

US president Barack Obama will announce economic aid for Egypt and Tunisia during a speech on the Middle East on Thursday, but White House officials are saying little about how he will address key policy issues after months of revolution and unrest in the region. Obama will announce a plan to cancel roughly $1 billion of Egypt’s debt to the United States, a senior administration official said during a conference call on Wednesday. The US will work with the Egyptian government to funnel that money into job creation. Washington will also offer Egypt another $1 billion in new loan guarantees to support infrastructure development. Other international institutions, like the IMF and the World Bank, are expected to offer several billion dollars in additional financing.

“We think it’s important to note that some of the protests in the region are deeply rooted in a lack of individual opportunity and economic growth, as well as a suppression of political rights,” the administration official told reporters.

Modest debt relief

White House officials have billed Thursday’s speech at the US state department as a “major address.” They have avoided discussion of difficult issues in advance of the speech; Wednesday’s conference call dealt exclusively with Egypt and Tunisia, the first two countries to revolt against their autocratic leaders, which the White House dubbed “beacons for this region.”

Officials focused on trade and economic proposals for the two countries, bound to be the least controversial parts of Obama’s speech. Asked about US policy towards Syria, though, an administration official flatly refused to discuss the subject. “We’re going to put that in the category of things you’re going to have to wait for the speech tomorrow to get more clarity on,” the official said. …more