Americans are cautiously optimistic that the upheaval in Egypt will increase the chances for an enduring peace in the Middle East, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, though there is also concern about the potential consequences of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Those surveyed give President Obama high marks for his handling of the unfolding situation. By more than 2-to-1, 66%-28%, they credit him with doing a good or very good job.
"It offers an opportunity as well as a challenge," Obama said at a news conference Tuesday. "I think the opportunity is that, when you have the kinds of young people who were in Tahrir Square, feeling that they have hope and they have opportunity, then they're less likely to channel all their frustrations into anti-Israeli sentiment or anti-Western sentiment, because they see the prospect of building their own country. ...
"The challenge is that ... democracy is messy."
Americans take a similar optimistic-but-wary view of the path ahead. In the poll:
•By 37%-22%, they predict events in Egypt will increase rather than decrease the chances for enduring peace in the Middle East; 28% say it won't make a difference.
•By 28%-21%, they say it will help rather than hurt U.S. efforts to fight terrorism; 41% say it won't make a difference.
•By 47%-44%, they say it will result in democracy taking hold in other countries in the region.
Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warns it's too soon to make judgments about repercussions.
At the White House news conference — dominated by questions about the administration's 2012 budget proposal released Monday — Obama called on governments in the Mideast to avoid crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters. He blasted Iran for using force against demonstrators.
"The world is changing," he said, addressing the region's rulers. "You have a young, vibrant generation within the Middle East that is looking for greater opportunity. ... You've got to get out ahead of change; you can't be behind the curve."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in what was billed as a major address on the Internet, praised the organizational role that social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter have played for democracy activists in the Mideast — but she warned the same tools could be used by autocratic regimes to crush dissidents
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