Amman
22 July 2008
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama continued his tour ofthe Middle East Tuesday with a stop in Jordan. The situation in Iraqand Afghanistan, and the Middle East peace process topped the agenda,as we hear from Robert Berger in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
BarackObama arrived in Jordan after visiting Afghanistan and Iraq. In hisfirst news conference of the tour, he said the security situation inIraq has improved and therefore the time is coming for United Statesforces to pull out. "I welcome the growing consensus in the UnitedStates and Iraq for a timeline. My view, based on the advice ofmilitary experts, is that we can redeploy safely in 16 months, so thatour combat brigades are out of Iraq in 2010," he said.
At thesame time, Obama said he supports sending additional U.S. troops toAfghanistan. "We went to Afghanistan, first, because it is the centralfront in the war against terrorism. And I'm glad that there is agrowing consensus back home that we need more resources in Afghanistan.We should not wait any longer to provide them," he said.
Turningto the Israeli-Palestinian track, Obama said the peace process would bea priority of his administration. He said Israel will remain a strongally of the United States, "That policy is not going to change."
Buthe promised a balanced approach. "What I think can change is theability of the United States government and a United States presidentto be actively engaged with the peace process and to be concerned andrecognize the legitimate difficulties that the Palestinian people areexperiencing right now," he said.
Obama discussed the peaceprocess with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman. On Wednesday, he willhold separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalemand the West Bank.