The Impact September 11 on the Middle East Prof. Sattar Kassem 2/sep/2002 I have not seen any major development or transformation in American foreign policy in the Middle East since the eleventh of September. It is true that the Americans particularly the American Administration have been talking so much about terrorism and what they label as terrorist organizations in the ME, but that has not been coupled with any real transformation in policy or strategy. The US has been pursuing its own old policy which is based basically on fragmented and weak Arab world that is plagued with dictatorships and assorted corruption, involved in internal feuds and concentrating on consumption that depletes oil earnings. Besides insuring the security of Israel and its military supremacy over the Arab states collectively and individually. The Americans have intensified their traditional statements against the Arabs and the Moslems (not the governments) as peoples who live in darkness with so much hatred for freedom, democracy and Western political, economic and social values. They have been aiming at mobilizing the American and the world’s public opinion against the Arabs and the Moslems so as to justify any military attacks that will keep them far from advancing toward the modern world. This objective is partly for the sake of insuring the American interests without mutuality and partly for insuring the security of Israel. Simply, it is unacceptable from the side of the American Administration to have free and democratic Arabs because that will lead to the rise of new regimes and governments that care about Arab interests. Israel found in the eleventh of September an opportunity to pump more prejudice against the Arabs and the Moslems in the Western countries. This country finds it harmful to promote mutual understanding among nations and unprofitable to build peace based on mutual respect. Zionist and Jewish lobbies supprted by Israel carried out an all-out expedition against the Arabs and the Moslems so as to intensify their already distorted image in the West. The number of statements made against countries and organizations in the region have increased, but the strategy with the rhetoric accompanying it is still going on. Several states were bombed by the US in the past such as Iraq, Libya, The Sudan and Iran, and many have been the target of embargoes. Many organizations such as Hamas, Jehad and Hizb Allah were described as terrorists and they are described as such now. We still here the same threats and experience the same policies. Probably the increasing number of hot threatening statements is to a certain extent linked with the American president rather than with September. This president, as I see him, lacks self-confidence and the expected level of discretion. He is so much moved by his extinct of punishing others rather than by the mentality of statesmanship. I imagine that he is so happy with the destructive toys he has at his disposal and probably would like to see himself a cowboy without horses and ropes. He is excellent in making enemies and losing friends. I thought that the US would act after September against Afghanistan and its war there as an expected reaction against the attacks. The US needed to spend more time in analyzing the motivations and the reasons that led to the attacks against the world trade center. That is why I think that it has been very demanding for the American leadership to listen to intellectuals and scholars from the US and the international community. This is a logical thinking because the worlds strongest nation should be guided with wisdom rather than being dragged by its muscles. The US needed to evaluate the events so as to learn why, to understand what has been going wrong in order open the horizon for better planning. It is unfortunate that the US wants to lead the world with coercion and force. That is why I think that hatred against the US will rise which ultimately means more security troubles for all sides. What the US has been trying to do since last September will prove to be counter-productive. Hatred does not create peace or calm, and I strongly think that Arabs and Moslems are going to react. More and more people in the ME will be engaged in developing very destructive means to hit forcefully against the US and its interests. This is true when we look at it in an historical perspective. Over the last fifty years, The US and Israel have been trying to bring the Arabs to their knees, but now both of them are troubled by their enemies. Israel is more insecure than ever, and it is not expected to restore the old beautiful days; while the US is forced into an era of tight internal security precautions and in troop mobilization in the area. All Arab governments that have been serving as rubber stamps proved to be incapable of insuring the surrender of their own peoples to the will of the US. Some American intellectuals have been very insightful and called for thoughtful evaluation of the events so as to understand the political, social and ethical factors that might be hidden behind. They insist that cheer force does not solve America’s problems with other nations. Although their efforts have not been productive yet, but I am confident that more American intellectuals will join so as to create a favorable public opinion. America’s main troubles in the ME are the product of its close ties with Israel. Israel and the allying lobbies in the US have been pushing toward an American foreign policy in the area that is antagonistic to the Arabs and the Moslems. Although Arab leaders have not been doing anything to stop that, the peoples are gaining more awareness of the necessity to react. I am sure that Israel will ultimately pay an extremely high price, but the Americans should be concentrating on their own interests in mutual cooperation with the Arabs. Israel sees the world through a very tiny and selfish hole, and I hope that the US will come to the conclusion that it should not be led by a restless small creature.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 17:22:30 +0000
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