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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters In defence of whom?
US Defence Secretary William Cohen told a news conference in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that he was in the region to visit US troops based in the Gulf and to assure Washington's regional allies of his country's continued support. He also confirmed that the US would maintain its military presence in the region in order to deter both Iraq and Iran.Most observers, though, were left wondering what might have brought the US defence secretary to the region for the fourth time in a year.
US policy, particularly towards Iraq and Iran, remains unclear, if not contradictory. On one hand, Cohen insists that Washington will continue its policy of "containing" the Iraqi president until Baghdad fully complies with the UN Security Council resolutions. This means that if Iraq complies, the US will consider lifting nine years of crippling sanctions that harm only ordinary Iraqis. At the same time, though, administration officials make no secret of their desire to see a change in Iraq's ruling regime and US Congress has allocated $97 million to arm exiled opposition groups.
Washington refuses to say, though, that sanctions will remain as long as President Saddam is in power. The result is that instability is maintained as the status quo, and the only beneficiary is America's military industries.
Cohen also claimed that his country wanted better ties with Iran, yet he failed to explain how this might come about when US officials daily repeat that American troops are in the Gulf to deter any Iranian threat, a threat that Saudi and Gulf governments do not themselves perceive.
It is a simple fact: the majority of people in the region do not see Iraq, after nine years of weapons inspections, nor Iran, as threats to their security. The same, though, cannot be said for Israel, whose formidable arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, including a massive nuclear capability, are exempted from any form of international monitoring.
