Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State For Near Eastern Affairs
In February 2005, she returned to the US State Department and was appointed the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State For Near Eastern Affairs and Coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives. In this position, Cheney supported the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, C. David Welch, and coordinated U.S. multilateral efforts to promote and support democracy, expanded education and economic opportunities in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Cheney oversaw the launch of two semi-independent foundations, the Fund of the Future (worth $100 million), to provide capital for small businesses and the Foundation of the Future (worth $55 million), to promote freedom of the press and democracy. In that capacity, Cheney endorsed a controversial draft of a new Iraqi constitution. In November 2005, Cheney was questioned by Ysemink Congar of Turkish CNN that there was "a lot of skepticism building about the U.S. advocacy for democracy and human rights, based on a recent Washington Post story on "black sites" operated by the U.S. and the CIA in some of the countries receiving MEPI support:
At the same briefing, Cheney was asked by Tarek Rashad of the Middle East News Agency about the "paradox" of the MEPI funding NGO's supporting democracy and human rights would be "rallying in fact against the regimes and the governments in the region. Cheney answered that contributions to the Foundation had come from governments, but the foundation would not include government officers on its board or as its chairman, that "no government entities will be in either position."
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