ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96091005.NNE
DATE:09/10/96
TITLE:10-09-96  ANALYST URGES US TO ADVOCATE MORE DEMOCRACY IN MIDDLE EAST

TEXT:
(Fuller calls for removal of Saddam Hussein) (440)
By Rick Marshall
USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States should become a much more forceful
advocate for democracy in the Middle East, Graham Fuller, a prominent
Rand Corporation analyst, said in a speech at Georgetown University
September 9.

Virtually every state in the region is being challenged by ethnic and
religious groups who feel excluded from the country's political life,
he said. Only by embracing a process of gradual democratization can
the Middle East address the needs of the groups who are otherwise
likely to tear the nations of the Middle East apart, he said.

Fuller, a former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at
the CIA, was quick to admit that the process of democratization was
likely to cause considerable short-term difficulties for the United
States and its allies in the region. But that should not prevent
Washington from adopting a long-term and principled strategy to deal
with the region, he argued.

The region's political systems also need to be more decentralized, he
said. More regional political and cultural autonomy can help stabilize
nations which are being threatened by politically and culturally
isolated minorities.

One of the keys to the region is Turkey, Fuller said, a nation he
described as a "genuine democracy" except with respect to its Kurdish
population. This blind spot in the Turkish political makeup needs to
be rectified if the country is going to survive in one piece, he
opined. However, he expressed hope that over time Turkey would come to
respect the human rights of the Kurds and permit them greater cultural
autonomy.

By extending the benefits of democracy to all segments of the
population, Turkey could well become "a beacon" to its neighbors, he
stressed.

In the meantime, Turkey's geo-strategic importance continues to grow
in significance. The country has become "vastly more important" than
it was a few years ago," Fuller commented, noting how Turkey's
influence in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Iraq has grown since the
collapse of the Soviet Union.

At the other end of the spectrum is Iraq, which Fuller described as
being under the thumb of the most brutal leader in modern Middle
Eastern history. Until Saddam Hussein is toppled -- one way or another
-- there will be no stability in the Gulf, he warned.

"The goal is to remove Saddam," Fuller commented. "Nothing can be
resolved until he's gone."

As a way of helping attain that goal, Fuller suggested the United
States institute a "no-drive zone for tanks" to go along with the
no-fly zones already established over much of Iraqi territory.
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