Boycott Israel [IslamCity] US's policiies are harmful to the peace of the world!

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 00:11:00 -0700

'U.S. policies have not been helpful to peace in Mideast'
The protracted conflict in the Middle East is affecting the region and many other parts of the world. Joseph Camilleri, a professor of International Relations at La Trobe University in Melbourne and director of the Centre for Interfaith Dialogue, spoke to The Jakarta Post's contributor Dewi Anggraeni about the Middle East's multifaceted problems.
Question: Can you briefly explain the sources of the current problems in the Middle East?
Answer: There are problems that are internal to the Middle East. The obvious ones are the unresolved question of the Palestinian conflict, the long standing tension between Israel and its neighbors -- some of which have reached an understanding or a peace agreement, but others have not. There is the question of the occupied territories resulting from the 1967 war -- not all the UN resolutions resulting from that have been implemented.
In addition to all the political and cultural questions, there is also the question of resources local to the region, including water resources. And of course there are the disparities between many of these countries -- the oil-rich, the not-so-rich, and many which remain quite poor. All these are helping to create tension and frustration.
What about the causes contributing to the conflict outside the region?
The West generally, perhaps the U.S. in particular as the leading Western country, has for over a decade pursued policies which have not been as helpful to peace and security in the Middle East as one would wish.
There are many factors here. I think Western powers generally, and the U.S. in particular, have tended to treat the Mideast as a region where they have various interests -- strategic interests, oil interests and political interests.
These interests often take precedence over the interests of peace and security in the region and the settlement of disputes. This does not mean that Western countries, the U.S. included, do not from time to time, devote a fair bit of energy to the resolution of conflict.
The complicating factor, for the U.S. particularly, is that there has always been a very strong lobby in the U.S. in favor of the position taken by the state of Israel, and that there has not until now been a compensating lobby that can express as strongly the interests of either the Arab world generally or Palestine in particular. I think most U.S. administrations have felt that they have to take this lobby very seriously.
Then there is the Western, including an American interest, in oil -- the security of supply, and the price. And there is the strategic interest. In an earlier era, to the West the area was seen as strategic to hold off the influence of the Soviet Union. Now although Russia still remains a consideration, there is the rise of China, and even competition for influence between the U.S. and the countries of Western Europe. What are the strongest and most immediate factors at play?
September 11 (2001) has had a tremendous impact on U.S. policy during the Bush administration. We have to cast our minds back to after the end of the Cold War. When Iraq moved on Kuwait, the Bush Sr administration felt it necessary to deal with that issue at the time. This was the first Gulf War (1991). But the first Gulf War did not put an end to Saddam Hussein. Though weaker, Saddam remained in power.
There seems to be a case for saying that during the Clinton administration years there were some serious attempts to deal with the Palestine question, but without success. Maybe it was not approached correctly. In the meantime, despite continuing pressure on Iraq, with sanctions and periodic air-strikes, Saddam remained in power.
When the present Bush administration came to office, from the beginning there seemed to be a very clear and strong view that Saddam Hussein had to be removed. That may explain the decision that was taken in 2003 to move in, on the pretext that the issue was weapons of mass destruction, although we now know that Iraq had no WMD.
Establish a democratic regime by force, isn't that a contradiction?
Indeed. It is also this miscalculation, it seems, that has led (the U.S.) to think that Hamas which came to office as a result of a democratic election -- as democratic as you have in any part of the Arab world -- was not an appropriate partner with which to discuss a resolution of the Israel-Palestine problem.
So they have tried to marginalize Hamas. And in the same way they have probably misjudged the nature of Hizbollah in Lebanon. There is no question that Hizbollah has been prepared to use violence, and against civilians as well. Many people would be justified in finding that objectionable. That would be true. Nevertheless, the West tends to see Hizbollah as purely a terrorist organization, without strong roots in Lebanon. I think Israel too has been the victim of that miscalculation.
Thus policies have been developed which are not appropriate to the very difficult situation in the Middle East. Isn't there, here, a presumption of knowing what is best for someone else, where in reality, there is hardly such knowledge?
There has been, it seems, a failure of intelligence, not just security intelligence, but also of human intelligence, to really understand the deep social and cultural roots of anger, discontent, and frustration in many parts of the Arab world.
There has been a tendency in the past, of American administrations to support regimes in the Arab world and in Iran that are friendly to the U.S., even if they may be undemocratic. Now the current Bush administration says that it does want to see democratic regimes, but it faces a contradiction, that when democratic regimes emerge that do not want to subscribe to American interests and priorities, the U.S.' commitment to democracy begins to falter.
Which are the friendly countries you mentioned -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia?
And some of the Gulf states. These countries have been very slow at developing democratic processes. And it is fair to say that in many of these countries there is profound discontent. Particularly discontent at the willingness of some of their governments to pursue policies that are not as supportive of the Palestinian cause as many people in these countries would like.
Many of these people would like to see their governments pursue a more independent line -- independent of the West. They would like to see foreign military troops opposed and withdrawn. That was certainly the feeling in Saudi Arabia before the forces were actually removed.
In most of the Arab world and Iran there was an overwhelming opinion that was strongly anti-interventionist in Iraq, and strongly calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. But their respective governments have not always pursued these policies. I think there is a gap in many cases between the feeling in the streets of these countries and what appears to be the policies of the governments.

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