There's A Contradiction Here

C. David Welch
Assistant Secretary, Near Eastern Affairs Bureau
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia

“U.S. Assistance to the Middle East”

Chairman Ackerman, Congressman Pence, and distinguished Members of the Committee, it is a privilege to appear before you today.

Our Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget request reflects the centrality of the Middle East to United States foreign policy, our strategic commitment to our partners’ security, and our enduring interests in the region. This request reflects an integrated approach managed by the office of the Director of Foreign Assistance between the Department of State and USAID.

...Our concept for the region is to support peaceful solutions and to strengthen the hand of democratic leaders against extremists who use violence, repress fundamental freedoms and seek to undermine our interests and our friends. Our FY 2009 budget reflects our continued focus on providing security assistance to our allies to promote our objectives--building well-governed, democratic states, promoting human rights and reducing poverty requires a foundation in security.

Our diplomacy is married up with our programmatic activities across the region in pursuit of our priorities. These priorities begin with a positive outcome in Iraq. Other key U.S. priorities include sustaining the security of Israel; advancing a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

You did catch the contradiction, did you not?