8/13/2019 Morocco letter to Obama

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November 18, 2013

 The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States The White House1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

 As former US Ambassadors to Morocco who have served over the past 32 years, appointed by fivePresidents, we want to express our support and encouragement for your invitation to His Majesty,King Mohammed VI of Morocco, to come to Washington for an official meeting on November 22nd. We hope that this meeting will strengthen our strategic partnership with a country in the MENA

region that genuinely shares our values and vision for the region’s future.

For too long, Morocco has often been overlooked by US policy makers because it is not a “problemcountry.” There have been missed opportunities to help Morocco as a country in finding solutionsfor the region. We urge you to seize this opportunity, especially in these times of tumult andinstability in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahel.

Morocco has been steadfast in its alliance with the US, and now is the time to support Morocco’sefforts to achieve our shared goals for the region. Despite instability in the region, King Mohammed VI has demonstrated a continuing commitment to guiding the country in the meaningful growth ofdemocratic practice and the rule of law. Morocco weathered the chaos of the Arab Spring by furtheradvancing its own reforms and making significant progress on human rights.

Morocco continues to hold firm on its own reformist path, and needs US political and resourceassistance to consolidate its own reformist agenda and contribute to stabilizing the threateningsituations in North Africa. That help should begin with US efforts to support Morocco’s commonsense and legitimate effort to resolve the problem in Western Sahara by granting the territory broadautonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. It is time for the US to make clear in the UN SecurityCouncil and elsewhere that this is the only realistic way to resolve this issue so that the internationalcommunity can move on to more urgently needed solutions to the more pressing problems in theregion. It is also a crucial time for the US to assist Morocco with the implementation of its ambitiousregionalization plan, which devolves substantial political power to democratically elected localofficials and implements programs that will make it a model for others in the region.

It was 50 years ago that His Majesty’s father, King Hassan II, visited President Kennedy and stated,“My people are hopeful, also, that this visit will prove to be a means for further understanding andcloser relations between them and the people of the United States. And that it may usher in a new eraof stronger ties, in the field of true and honest and unselfish cooperation in their mutual interests, as well as in the interest of the cause of freedom, peace, and human dignity throughout the world.”

FORMER  US A MBASSADORS  TO MOROCCO 

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8/13/2019 Morocco letter to Obama

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 These words ring so true today and echo the words of George Washington, in a December 1, 1789letter to King Mohammed VI’s ancestor, Sultan Mohammed III, when he wrote to the King, “Weflatter ourselves that one day we will be useful to our friends.”

 The moment is right for you, Mr. President, to clearly declare the importance of the strategicrelationship with Morocco and to partner with it on its path towards economic, democratic,political, and human rights reforms.

Sincerely,

Samuel L. KaplanFormer United States Ambassador to Morocco

 Thomas RileyFormer United States Ambassador to Morocco

Margaret D. TutwilerFormer United States Ambassador to Morocco

Edward M. Gabriel Former United States Ambassador to Morocco

Marc GinsburgFormer United States Ambassador to Morocco Frederick Vreeland Former United States Ambassador to Morocco

Michael Ussery Former United States Ambassador to Morocco

 Thomas Nassif  Former United States Ambassador to Morocco

 Joseph Verner Reed, Jr.Former United States Ambassador to Morocco ] i e