Enough is enough
The Arabs have long given the United States the benefit of doubt with respect to policy on the region, but their patience is running out. Recent attacks on Americans in the region appear an indication of things to come, argues Ghassan Mekahal*
What is unusual about recent attacks on US targets in the region is not the attacks per se, but the way the US is systematically downplaying them. Those who follow the US media would find the paucity of analytical and official reaction to the attacks startling. The impression one consequently obtains is that there is a calculated attempt to downplay the phenomenon, in the hope that the American public would remain blissfully ignorant about the consequences of US policies and military presence in the region.
Fair coverage of the widespread campaign of protest against US policy could shake the foundations of US official propaganda. For one thing, it would debunk the underlying assumption concerning the possible war against Iraq. Such a war will not make the region a safe place, as US officials claim, but a more volatile one. The US does not want the Middle East to be a subject of sensible analysis. It does not want its failures, particularly in dealing with the Middle East peace process, publicised. A sensible analysis of the disillusion US policies have generated would have to point out the perils facing US oil and non-oil interests in the region.
Arab consumption of US goods, particularly in Gulf markets, has significantly dropped. Saudi imports of US goods have decreased by 35 per cent. Demand for US manufactured goods has fallen considerably, perhaps by as much as 70 per cent. Boycott of US goods has turned into a common practice, even among children, as the Arab public becomes increasingly disenchanted with the US position on Palestine and Iraq. The disenchantment is not confined to policy matters. Hostile remarks by US politicians and writers are not going down well in this part of the world; President George W Bush's reference to the "crusade" against terror has not been forgotten. Israel's crimes against Palestinians, Arabs believe, would not have been possible without US material and moral backing. The Arabs were particularly incensed by the US obstruction of investigations into the Jenin massacres.
The war against Afghanistan heightened Arab disillusionment. Had the September attacks originated from a non-Muslim country, the Arabs wonder, would the war have taken place? The US's handling of various international issues reinforces the Arab sense that there is a process of double- dealing at work. When North Korea admitted to having a military nuclear programme, the US reaction was exceptionally mild. Washington said it would sort out the problem with Pyongyang through diplomatic means. Compare this with the case of Iraq -- a country that so far has not been proven to own or manufacture nuclear arms.
US officials claim that they want to bring freedom and democracy to the region and have nothing but respect for Islam. The talk is sweet but has a false ring that is highlighted by instances when US voices vilify former allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia. What the United States seems to be doing, in fact, is blackmailing Arab countries with extensive oil reserves into funding the upcoming attack on Iraq and accepting normalisation with Israel.
Were the recent attacks on US targets in Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen and the Emirates coincidental, or were they linked to the resentment that is growing in various parts of the Arab world? Is there an organisational connection, or do they merely share the same inspiration of anti-American feeling? The answer is unclear. What is obvious, however, is that the events that took place in Ma'an, Jordan, over the past two weeks indicate that anti-American groups have the moral backing of large sections of the public.
The Ma'an events were triggered by the assassination of US diplomat Laurence Foley a few weeks ago. The Jordanian authorities blamed the assassination on a resident of Ma'an, known as "Abu Sayyaf", who may have links with Al-Qa'eda. That the attempt to arrest Abu Sayyaf would lead to confrontations between the locals and the Jordanian police is indicative of the resentment the public harbours toward the United States. One should keep in mind that Ma'an is known for its staunch loyalty to the Hashemite throne. A similar development occurred with regard to the recent shootings of US soldiers in Kuwait, a country that is clearly indebted to the US army for its liberation in 1991 and which continues to rely on the Americans for military protection. Amazingly enough, the Kuwaiti public sympathised with the attackers, and even mourned them as martyrs.
The killing of Bonnie Whiterall, US nurse and missionary in Sidon, Lebanon, has not been called a political assassination because local Muslims and Christians alike opposed her evangelical activities. Still, it was the first violent attack against Americans in Lebanon since the end of the civil war, more than a decade ago.
With opposition to US policies in the region mounting by the day, the recent attacks should be seen as a harbinger of things to come. If the US were to attack Iraq, and if Israel were to use the occasion to wage an all-out assault on the Palestinians, the situation will probably only worsen.
* The writer is the political editor at Al- Khaleej newspaper, Dubai.
