| Author | Message | | dangerousdna | | Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 1:14 am Post subject: More dangerous than the evil that is targeted |
| http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/opinion.asp?ArticleID=63806
More dangerous than the evil that is targeted
| Hubert Saldanha | 23-09-2002
It's cat-stalks-mouse time all over again in the Gulf region. American President George W. Bush made his case for an attack on Iraq to the United Nations and got last response he was looking for. He gave his latest nemesis, Saddam Hussain, the opportunity he needed.
Today Saddam has managed to strip away American doublespeak and has portrayed any war moves by the United States for what it really is - unprovoked aggression.
Aggression there will be, as Bush has promised. Whatever it is that is driving the United States government to act in the manner it does today is not critically relevant at this stage for the Arab and Muslim world.
Unless reason prevails on both sides of the current standoff between Iraq and the United States, it will be the whole of the Middle East, and the Gulf states, that will have to survive the detritus of American military adventurism.
It is not difficult to comprehend just why the United States is in this position today. September 11, 2001, was indeed a turning point for the world. The United States suffered its worst humiliation since Pearl Harbor in the concerted attacks on its symbols of international power.
The unanticipated attacks and the resulting death toll grabbed the world's attention and brought an outpouring of genuine international sympathy. Bush, a lame duck president till then, issued a call that struck a chord both within America and the rest of the world.
Speaking from the pulpit of a presidency reinvigorated by tragedy, he sought global backing for a war against terrorism and in one sound bite enlisted support from all key countries. "You are either with us or you are with the terrorists," Bush told the world standing tall atop the debris of the World Trade Center in New York.
These words could well return to haunt the American president where the Middle East is concerned.
The events of a year ago are seen today as a direct result of decades of defective American foreign policy decisions and implementation in the Middle East. In the year since the terrorist attacks on American soil, actions by the United States have left the clear impression that the war on terror has morphed into something more dangerous than the evil it seeks to conquer.
Serious questions are being asked in all countries, including by America's strongest allies, as to Washington's unilateralist approach to international problems.
The people of the Arab and Muslim world have the distinct feeling of being targeted by the United States. Language used by the Bush administration, and by the president himself, has strengthened such feelings.
The unfortunate - and fortunately quickly withdrawn - use of the word "crusade" in the emotional aftermath of the attacks, and subsequent Christian terminology used to portray the fight against the forces of terror, has left the Muslim world and the international community wondering as to intentions of American government and as to how this war of attrition will ultimately shape out.
American policy in the Middle East has been viewed in the region as confused at best, especially through the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Opportunities to remove a crucial thorn in the side of the Muslim world - the continued, deliberate repression and elimination of Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis - have been squandered.
The end of the Gulf War, which saw the liberation of Kuwait by a coalition of Arab and other countries led by the United States, opened up a whole vista of closer relations between the Middle East region and Washington.
It was widely expected then that the Palestinian issue would receive long-overdue priority in America's Middle East policy. However, decision makers in the Clinton and Bush administrations have stuck to the premise that Israel is more important to the United States than the Arab countries.
That, unfortunately, has been the guiding principle governing all diplomatic and military transactions the United States has had with the remaining countries in the Middle East over the years.
The importance of the Arab world to the continued welfare of American and global economies and the geostrategic position it occupies, has failed to win it the respect it deserves in the capital of the world's only superpower.
Instead of establishing stronger links with Arab countries through unbiased efforts to rein in Israeli expansionism, the Americans have actively aided and abetted such Zionist plans.
Strategists in Washington, influenced unduly by the Jewish lobbies, have worked gradually toward the scenario that is being played out today.
The shocking thinking of the Bush administration that it can replace leaderships in the Middle East merely takes American planning a step closer to its goals. It, however, also serves as a wake-up call for the Arab world.
Despite what it was made to look like, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent trashing of Baghdad's military capabilities have been a key ingredient of carefully orchestrated American and Israeli policy for the region. The Israeli attack on Osirak in an attempt to derail Iraq's nuclear programme, failed to achieve closure to the main regional threat that Tel Aviv faced.
The war between Iran and Iraq, debilitating as it was to both countries, has not weakened either of them vis-à-vis Israel. The other powerhouses in the region have been subdued, either by cash or the cudgels of isolation.
America's actions cannot be condemned outright as being self-serving and counter to the Arab train of thought. It is but natural that the United States will actively work toward what it perceives to be in its best interests, as any nation ought to.
If such interests involve whole-hearted support for the Israeli cause and increased domination over the majority Arabs in the Middle East, it highlights a lapse on the part of the Arab world to make itself more relevant to the needs of the international community and a failure to move with the times.
Many have been the calls for unity made by leaders of vision in the Arab world. Foremost among the voices of reason and foresight has been UAE President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
However, such exhortations have fallen on deaf ears as individual countries continue to languish in past mindsets. Every component of the Arab world has understandably pursued its national interest. This has unfortunately been done to the exclusion of the overall needs of the Arab world and Islamic ummah.
It is not that the Arab and Muslim world has been caught off guard by the events of September 11 and the subsequent fall out. The signs of blind condemnation and religious classification against the Arabs have been around and highly visible for decades.
They have been recognised and highlighted at every major gathering of the Arab and Muslim leadership. Such conferences have resolved to correct the situation and work toward presenting the world with the correct face of Islam. Overall, nothing concrete and major has emerged from such word fests.
It is true that Arab and Muslim pressure has recently convinced Saddam of the need to allow unconditional inspection of his weapons programme, if it still exists. This however, is symptomatic of the ills that plague the region. Arab states come together when collective security is threatened. But they pull apart once an immediate threat is removed or delayed or defused.
The wealth of individual states - be it diplomatic, economic or influential - is not being used as it ought to be. There are always factors that govern action at normal times. Lead-ups to crucial or scheduled conferences of Arab and Muslim states are a clear mirror of how the Arab world works. Perceived slights dictate whether a country attends or, at best, downgrades its representation. This reality has to be addressed selflessly and sincerely.
It has to be addressed in the right spirit that will make the Arab and Muslim nation a power to be reckoned with. There is no other way that manifests itself today in which a collective and positive stand can be taken by the Arab world in international affairs.
The Arab world has been accused of being the hotbed of terrorism. The United States needs to be told that it supports terrorism in the unstinting backing it provides Ariel Sharon's Zionist actions. It is time the Arab and Muslim world told Washington: You are either with us or you are with the terrorists. | |  | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
