February 15th, 2011 by Kyle

President Barack Obama made statements to the press on Tuesday in regards to his proposed budget as well as the current uprisings taking place across the Middle East. When asked about the recent uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain, and Egypt and whether the US values stability over freedom Obama responded by stating that there is a lot of work to be done in Egypt, but “we’re seeing the right signals coming out of Egypt” including the military’s reaffirmation of Egypt’s treaties and their initial work in seeking free and fair elections.  For the rest of the region he reaffirmed the US’ beliefs in universal rights and stated that he urged all allies not to use “violence as a form of coercion.”  Obama went further to state that he was concerned about stability in the region but that a “young, vibrant generation” in the Middle East is looking for change and he urged Arab leaders “you’ve got to get out ahead of change.  You can’t be behind the curve.”

On Iran, Obama stated, “And my hope and expectation is, is that we’re going to continue to see the people of Iran have the courage to be able to express their yearning for greater freedoms and a more representative government,” and condemned the regime’s response to protests, “which is to shoot people and beat people and arrest people.”

Posted in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, US foreign policy, Yemen |