27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001
Issue No.553
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001 Issue No.553 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Sore spots
The attacks on New York and Washington have placed Arab and Islamic countries in a terrible predicament, and may lead to divisions that will threaten the entire region.
As it resumes its efforts to build a coalition against the Taliban, the US has deployed a series of warnings both public and covert. In its war against Bin Laden, it has lifted sanctions on India and Pakistan, guaranteed the use of Russian military bases in the "Islamic" republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, commenced exploratory operations in Afghanistan itself and procured the support of its NATO allies, notably Turkey, which has military bases in the Middle East and, especially, close to Iraq.
The predicament of Arab and Islamic regimes is that, while they condemn terrorism and are willing to fight it (having been the first to suffer its consequences), they are aware of the difference between America's view of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center as acts of "Islamic" terror -- although evidence for the involvement of Bin Laden or any Arab or Islamic party has yet to be shown -- and what most Arabs see as justifiable revenge, whose consequences America alone should bear. This is because the US is responsible not only for planting the seeds of terrorism in the Middle East (by endorsing Israel's policies) but for the many injustices resulting from its misuse of political and military power throughout the world and the humiliations to which it has subjected Arabs in particular.
This is what President Mubarak said frankly and bravely in an interview with Le Figaro, warning that the US's use of its veto power to protect Israel, and its 10-year onslaught on Iraq, have angered Arabs and Muslims everywhere. As the president said, America should seek a more precise, less hasty approach. The wisest course would be to organise an international conference against terrorism under the auspices of the UN.
Arabs and Muslims see America's demand for unconditional support -- and the pressure it exercises to procure that support, demanding the use of military bases in the Gulf from which to conduct the campaign against Afghanistan -- as undesirable, and embarrassing to their governments. If they give in to US pressure, these governments could be faced with a revolution, as recent clashes with the police in Pakistan indicate. This is why two Arab states resisted the plan to use American military bases within their borders.
Despite the war hysteria that has generated waves of racist hatred for Arabs and Muslims in the West, there are political forces, in Europe and America, that harbour reservations about US belligerence, seeing it as a trigger for clashes with Islamic countries. These forces also think that American policies will generate more hatred and suspicion, which may in turn give rise to acts of terrorism in the future.
This, in a nutshell, is the conclusion of the anti- terrorism report undertaken by a Congressional committee made up of 10 experts and headed by ambassador Paul Bremer last June, following the bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The report concluded that getting rid of Bin Laden and his organisation, Al-Qa'ida, would not end terrorism. Increasingly, the report said, many groups throughout the world oppose US hegemony. It predicted that the threat of terrorism would come from within America's own borders, and would be exceedingly violent and destructive, claiming numerous victims.
The report seems to have been lost in the reigning confusion, yet the recent attacks on New York and Washington indicate that its predictions were accurate. This is precisely what sensible leaders like President Mubarak are warning against.
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