Modern Domino Theory: the transformation of the Arab world from autocracy to democracy

Atlantic Unbound | Politics & Prose | October 29, 2003 : "by Jack Beatty | The Friedman Principle

The influential New York Times columnist's vision of spreading democracy through the Arab world is this era's domino theory—and it is just as misguided
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Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign-affairs columnist for The New York Times, attributes wonder-working power to the U.S. intervention in Iraq. For him, it is not about finding WMD or opening a new front in the war on terror or even ending a cruel regime. More is at stake—the transformation of the Arab world from autocracy to democracy. "

Perle proposes US occupation of Saudi oik fields

The Pollard Affair Never Ended: "
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On Sept. 22, 2001, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made a feverish pitch for war on Iraq at a Camp David meeting with President Bush and most of the Cabinet. ... Perle most recently staged the July 10, 2002 Defense Policy Board session, which demanded the purging of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of all opponents of the Iraq war, and called for a U.S. military occupation and takeover of the Saudi oil fields and a total break with the House of Saud-just as his July 1996 IASPS 'Clean Break' study had proposed."

Donations to Iraq squeeze other international aid

Excite News: "AP: Iraq Expense Leaving Others in Cold | Oct 28, 7:30 PM (ET) | By BARBARA BORST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Donors were generous last week in pledging billions to rebuild Iraq - disproportionately generous compared with their donations to fight poverty and AIDS in the world's poorest countries, development and AIDS officials say.

The $33 billion for Iraq over the next four years, including $20 billion from the United States, is more than 10 times the U.N. Development Program's annual funds of $2.8 billion for all underdeveloped countries. The amount is also nearly 10 times the pledges to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which kill millions every year.
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"It poisons the sense of international fairness, equity and social justice," he said. "It shouldn't eclipse everything else."

Lebanese Druze Chief Rues Rockets Missed Wolfowitz in Iraq

Excite - News: "Druze Chief Rues Rockets Missed Wolfowitz in Iraq | Oct 27, 4:32 pm ET

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A top Lebanese politician enraged the American embassy in Beirut Monday by saying he hoped the next attack on the number two in the Defense Department would prove fatal.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt described Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as a 'virus' who needed to be destroyed, a day after the American emerged unscathed from a guerrilla rocket attack on the fortified Baghdad hotel where he was staying.
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"We hope that next time the rockets will be more accurate and effective in getting rid of this virus, and his like, who wreak corruption in the Arab land of Iraq and in Palestine," Jumblatt said.

[Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Assassinations used to be illegal in America. ed.]

The Bush administration's Top 40 Lies about war and terrorism

City Pages: Bring 'em On!: "Bring 'em On! | By Steve Perry | 7/30/03

Editor's note: In the interest of relative brevity I've stinted on citing and quoting sources in some of the items below. You can find links to news stories that elaborate on each of these items at my online Bush Wars column, www.bushwarsblog.com.

U.S. Isolated on Iran Nuke Program-Diplomats

Excite - News: "U.S. Isolated on Iran Nuke Program-Diplomats | Oct 24, 6:47 am ET | By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States, which accuses Iran of secretly developing atomic weapons, has become isolated in its hardline attitude toward Tehran as more countries want to engage rather than punish it, diplomats said on Friday.

On Thursday, Iran's envoy to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, gave the IAEA a declaration he said 'fully discloses' all aspects of Tehran's nuclear program, which he insisted is entirely peaceful.
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On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany brokered a deal with Iran under which Tehran agreed to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program and accept a tougher, short-notice IAEA inspection regime.

The diplomat said this deal included an understanding that France, Germany and Britain would not support a finding of NPT non-compliance in November -- provided IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has no shocking revelations in his next Iran report.

Former U.N. weapons inspection David Albright said the success of the Big Three's mission on Tuesday showed engaging Iran was the superior strategy.

"Iran is responding and I think it calls for the U.S. to at least rethink its isolationist policy for Iran ... which is based on calling them names and isolating them," Albright, who is president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a U.S.-based think-tank, told Reuters.

Rumsfeld Challenges Progress in U.S. War on Terror

Excite - News: "Rumsfeld Challenges Progress in U.S. War on Terror | Oct 23, 7:52 am ET | By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon and White House on Wednesday defended a memorandum from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to top defense officials questioning progress in the war on terrorism and warning that the United States faced 'a long, hard slog' in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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"My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?" Rumsfeld wrote, referring to the war on terrorism.

He challenged Pentagon leaders to consider and discuss troubling issues, including whether or not the United States was capturing or killing terrorists at a faster rate than they were being created by extremists.

"Are we winning or losing the global war on terrorism? Does the U.S. need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists?" he asked.

"The U.S. is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions."

Rumsfeld cited "mixed results" against the al Qaeda guerrilla network blamed for the 2001 attacks, "reasonable progress tracking down top Iraqis" and "somewhat slower progress" in apprehending Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Australian Senators heckle Bush speech; Leader of Opposition lectures Bush on US constitution

Senators heckle Bush speech: "Senators heckle Bush speech | 23/10/2003 08:30 - (SA)

Canberra, Australia - Two senators opposed to the US-led war in Iraq heckled the American president when he spoke to Australia's Parliament on Thursday, but George W Bush shrugged it off, smiled broadly and won applause by saying: 'I love free speech.'
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Both minority Green Party lawmakers, maverick Senator Bob Brown and Senator Kerry Nettle, were ordered out of the chamber, but refused to leave. Brown even shook Bush's hand after the incident.

The son of a terror suspect being held by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was removed from the public gallery. [He yelled: "hey Bush what about my dad?.]
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Later, when Bush paid tribute to Australia for promoting peace in Southeast Asia, Brown shouted: "But we are not a sheriff."

It was a reference to Bush's recent comment that Australia was a lawman in the war on terror. The comment apparently was intended to portray Australia as being on equal footing with the United States. Instead, it reinforced sentiment among some Asian nations that Canberra was an agent for the Bush administration.
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As Bush arrived at the parliament, his entourage was greeted by several thousand noisy demonstrators, who were banging drums and carrying signs that said: "Bush Go Home," "Go back to Texas" and "Osama bin Bush." Police held back the surging protesters, who were kept about 100 metres away from where Bush entered the building.

Later thousands of protesters marched to the US embassy and a few scuffled with police as they tried to break through security barriers.
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[Ed: Simon Crean, leader of Australia's opposition, subtley lectured Bush using the US constitution. "But friends we must be honest with each other" ... "The equal rights of all nations, respect for the opinions of all peoples and the idea that all men are created equal: these principles form the ... basis of ... friendship " -- an obvious reference to the US's behavior in the United Nations and the US's unilateral policies. Bush looked decided uncomfortable on the BBC news excerpt. October 22, 2003, BBC World News. ed.]
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see also: Bush Heckled in Australia as He Defends Iraq War

Mahathir Lashes Out at State Terrorism: State terrorism greater

Excite - News: "Mahathir Lashes Out at State Terrorism, WTO | Oct 22, 5:26 am ET | By Tomi Soetjipto

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Outspoken Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Wednesday state terrorism was worse than that committed by individual groups and accused countries advocating democracy of terrorizing the world.

His comments in this central Java city came on the same day President Bush visited the Indonesian resort island of Bali for talks with President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Muslim leaders in a bid to explain Washington's war on terror.
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Mahathir said "terror attacks are not just by irregulars acting on their own."

"Indeed, we see states launching massive retaliation, not just to curb suspected terrorists, but his family, his home, his village and his town."

"It would be ridiculous to think that such attacks do not terrorize the innocent. In fact, the terrorism is even greater, for it is systematic and executed with heavy weapons in the hands of trained soldiers."

"It would seem that the great exponents and practitioners of democracy believe that the way to spread the doctrine and to break down resistance is by terrorizing the world."
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In the interview, he defended his policy over the years of speaking his mind and not hesitating to criticize major powers such as the United States.

"If we don't, and we just allow them to do what they like, then they will get away with the feeling that they are invincible, nobody can stop them and they will go on doing the wrong things."

U.N. Report: U.S. War on Terror Radicalizes Arabs

Excite - News: "U.N. Report: U.S. War on Terror Radicalizes Arabs | Oct 20, 1:50 pm ET | By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) - The U.S.-led war on terror has radicalized more Arabs angry both with the West and their autocratic rulers who are bent on curbing their political rights, a U.N.-commissioned study released Monday showed.

Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, the top U.N. official behind the team of Arab intellectuals who wrote the report, said anti-Arab sentiment in the West after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities was a further factor radicalizing Arabs.

Washington's ''unpopular policies in Iraq and on the Israel-Palestinian undercut democratic reform

EGYPT: U.S. Mideast Policy Backfires Inside Ally - Report: "Emad Mekay | October 1, 2003


WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (IPS) - The U.S. occupation of Iraq and the administration's backing of Israel have undercut Washington's self-styled goal of promoting democracy in the Middle East, says a new study of Egypt, the Arab world's largest country.

President George W. Bush has vowed that U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq would launch the forces of reform and create friendly pro-American populations in the region, also making it safer for U.S. citizens at home.

Neo-conservatives in the administration contend that Washington's new push in the region is focused on ”regime change” and will use U.S. military might, if necessary, to achieve it.
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Washington's ''unpopular policies in Iraq and on the Israel-Palestinian front have embarrassed a friendly government in Egypt and undercut the U.S.'s ability to promote democratic reform in the region,'' said the Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group (ICG)..
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''The U.S. would help the cause of reform best by more vigorously pursuing a just settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and de-Americanising the Iraqi occupation.''

A Story of Two Speeches: Kofi Annan and George W. Bush on Iraq

FPIF | Global Affairs Commentary | A Story of Two Speeches: Kofi Annan and George W. Bush: "By Ian Williams | October 3, 2003
Editor: John Gershman, Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC)

Kofi Annan's speech to the United Nations General Assembly was indeed a strong and incisive condemnation of unilateralism--and thus of the current U.S. administration and its hangers on. But in their eagerness to applaud the temerity of the Secretary General in twitching the eagle's tail, some observers may miss the rest of his message: which is that despite its abuse by Bush and Blair, the United Nations Security Council must come to terms with the need for humanitarian intervention, and, moving some small but measured way toward the concerns of countries that feel themselves to be 'uniquely vulnerable.'
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Speaking "ex cathedra" in his report to the General Assembly Annan explained,

Until now it has been understood that when States go beyond [self defense], and decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, they need the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations.

Now, some say this understanding is no longer tenable, since an "armed attack" with weapons of mass destruction could be launched at any time, without warning, or by a clandestine group. Rather than wait for that to happen, they argue, States have the right and obligation to use force pre-emptively, even on the territory of other States, and even while weapons systems that might be used to attack them are still being developed.

According to this argument, States are not obliged to wait until there is agreement in the Security Council. Instead, they reserve the right to act unilaterally, or in ad hoc coalitions. This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last fifty-eight years…. If it were to be adopted, it could set precedents that resulted in a proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force, with or without justification."

Somewhat provocatively, he also suggested that the UN "needs to consider how it will deal with the possibility that individual States may use force 'pre-emptively' against perceived threats." This could be an almost puckish reminder: despite all the sound and fury, the dozens of delegates who stood up and inveighed against the U.S. and British assault on Iraq, there was not one resolution put down, either in the Security Council or the General Assembly to condemn, let alone take any sanctions against the perpetrators.

Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks says International Institute for Strategic Studies

Excite - News: "Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says | Oct 15, 7:32 am ET | By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Wednesday in its annual report.

The 2003-2004 edition of the British-based think-tank's annual bible for defense analysts, The Military Balance, said Washington's assertions after the Iraq conflict that it had turned the corner in the war on terror were 'over-confident.'

The report, widely considered an authoritative text on the military capabilities of states and militant groups worldwide, could prove fodder for critics of the U.S.-British invasion and of the reconstruction effort that has followed in Iraq.
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Because of its extreme religious world view, al Qaeda "cannot be tamed or controlled through political compromise or conflict resolution," the report said.

But Western countries need to do more to reach out to Muslim countries and their own Islamic minorities to "eliminate the root causes of terrorism," especially after the Iraq war "almost certainly further alienated Islam from the West."

Efforts should be redoubled to resolve local conflicts, such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, so regional radical groups such as Hamas do not fall into al Qaeda's embrace, it said. "

Officials expressed worries about pre-emptive U.S. military strikes: "huge campaign conveyed all over the world and against Islam Muslims"

Excite News: "Islamic Nations Seek Better World Image | Oct 14, 2:26 AM (ET) | By SEAN YOONG

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) - Decrying what they perceive as a Western campaign to unfairly link their religion to terrorism, Islamic nations are calling for stronger efforts to resolve frustrations they say have fueled extremism - such as the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Palestinian struggle.
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"We plead with the Western world to cooperate with us, to help our vision of moderate Islam become more dominant," Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations, told The Associated Press.

"There is obviously a sense of anger in the Muslim world, since we have suffered many injustices," Akram said on the sidelines of the summit in Putrajaya, Malaysia's new administrative capital. "We may not endorse the acts of desperation, such as suicide bombings, which have followed these injustices, but that does not illegitimize important causes such as the Palestinian struggle."
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Some officials expressed worries about the potential precedent of pre-emptive U.S. military strikes, such as in Iraq, in Muslim countries in the Middle East accused of sponsoring terrorism.

"There is now a huge campaign conveyed all over the world and against Islam Muslims," said Bashar Jaafari, head of the Syrian Foreign Ministry's international organizations department. "For what reason - so that they can attack us later? Otherwise, there is no need for such accusations that Muslims are terrorists or militants." ...

Amazon.com: Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions

Amazon.com: Books: Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions | by Clyde Prestowitz
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His early use of Webster's definition of "Rogue" as "deviant, having an abnormally savage or unpredictable disposition" not only suits the unilateralist Bush team perfectly, but makes it clear that in objective terms, as perceived by the rest of the world--not just the Middle East, but the responsible Asian powers as well as what Rumsfeld revealingly denigrates as "old Europe"--the USA is indeed a "rogue nation."
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At the top of page 277: "The imperial project of the so-called neoconservatives is not conservatism at all but radicalism, egotism, and adverturism articulated in the stirring rhetoric of traditional patriotism. Real conservatives have never been messianic or doctrinaire. The very essence of conservatism, which the neoconservatives constantly preach, is limited government. Yet the imperial project they are proposing will greatly increase the role of government both at home and abroad. ... This is not conservatism. It is Big Government."
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As the worldwide outpouring of post-9/11 sympathy for America has given way to worldwide anti-American protests, Americans are asking why the world hates us. This nuanced but unsparing book gives a bill of particulars. American high-handedness has exacerbated tensions in hot spots from the West Bank to the Korean peninsula. American unilateralism has sabotaged a host of international agreements on such issues as land mines, biological weapons and the International Criminal Court. America preaches free trade while protecting its steel, textiles and agriculture from foreign competition. America, Atkins argues, runs a wasteful, SUV-centered economy while it rejects treaties on the environment and global warming. America's self-proclaimed role as champion of democracy flies in the face of its history of installing and supporting dictators in countries from Indonesia to Iraq. Most of all, Atkins says, the world fears America's overwhelming military might, now ominously paired with a doctrine of "preempting" the emergence of rival powers. These problems have been much discussed of late, but Prestowitz, author of Trading Places, pulls them together into a comprehensive and historically informed survey of contemporary U. S. foreign relations. Although he forthrightly calls the United States an imperial power, Prestowitz, a former Reagan Administration trade official, is by no means anti-American. He insists that America's intentions are usually good, and that the world likes and admires Americans when they live up to their own ideals. Still, his is a damning portrait of the United States as seen through the angry, bewildered eyes of foreigners: selfish, erratic, hypocritical, muscle-bound and a bad citizen of the world.

Short on Friends: administration has won the war and lost much of the rest of the world

Short on Friends: "Short on Friends
Bush made his case on Iraq to the United Nations, but didn’t win any new allies. Now what? | NEWSWEEK.MSNBC.COM | Sept. 23 2003

One year ago, George W. Bush stood in front of the green-marble podium inside the United Nations to issue a stark challenge to the rest of the world. Iraq, he said, was a mortal threat to the U.N. and to peace. “All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment,” he warned. “Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?”
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Yet there was President Bush again on Tuesday, standing by the same green marble. On the sidelines, his diplomats were pressing for U.N. help to rebuild Iraq while Bush made his own case. Rather than irrelevent, the United Nations he described in his speech is doing “vital and effective work” in Iraq. According to the president, the U.N. is now even united about its “fundamental principles” including global security and human rights. “So let us move forward,” he urged.

Maybe the president missed the speeches delivered before he reached the podium. But they hardly sounded as if the United Nations and the Bush administration agree at all about those fundamental principles, or, for that matter, about world security.

The day began with Kofi Annan, the U.N.’s secretary general, launching an unusually aggressive attack on the very basis for going to war in Iraq—and the Bush administration’s foreign policy in general. Without mentioning Iraq or the United States by name, Annan condemned the notion of pre-emptive strikes, saying they could lead to “the unilateral and lawless use of force.”

“This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last 58 years,” he warned.
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Last year Bush said Iraq was the main threat to the U.N. and to peace. This year Annan said Bush’s policy was a threat to the U.N. and to peace. For a U.N. that remains traumatized by terrorist attacks in Baghdad, that was hardly a rallying cry to help the U.S. in Iraq. So much for unity on fundamental principles.
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Before the war in Iraq, it became something of a cliché to warn that the United States could win the war and lose the peace. In fact the reality at the United Nations this week is that the Bush administration has won the war and lost much of the rest of the world. With enough time, money and bloodshed, the United States will bring peace to Iraq. But it remains a long, long way from winning back its friends and allies in the international community.

Islamic Nations Call for U.S. Out of Iraq :feeling that the war against terrorism has turned into a war against Muslims.

Excite News: "Islamic Nations Call for U.S. Out of Iraq | Oct 11, 7:38 AM (ET) | By PATRICK McDOWELL

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) - The world's Islamic nations opened their biggest meeting in three years Saturday with a call for the eviction of U.S. troops from Iraq and the rapid restoration of its sovereignty.

Divisions over Iraq threatened to prevent Islamic leaders from finding a unified voice to address a widespread feeling that the war against terrorism has turned into a war against Muslims.
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Abdelouahed Belkaziz, the OIC's secretary general, told the officials that Islamic nations "are still under the strain of extremely difficult challenges and unprecedented threats to our countries' independence, sovereignty, security and courses."

Top priority should go to "the eviction of foreign forces from Iraq, allowing the United Nations to administer Iraqi affairs (as a) prelude to restoration of Iraq's independence, and to the rebuilding of what has been destroyed over the past 20 years, all in accordance with a clear and short timetable," he said.

Sanctioning Syria? Extending the Iraqi mess to neighbouring countries will hardly help Mr Bush in his race for re-election

DAWN - Editorial; 10 October, 2003: "Sanctioning Syria?

The move by President Bush to drop his opposition to a draft bill that would impose sanctions on Syria is quite intriguing, to say the least. This will pave the way for the adoption of a law that the White House had obstructed for two years. Why this sudden change of heart?

No new development would seem to warrant an American warning to Damascus, ...
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It is no coincidence that all this links up neatly with Israel's own troubles with the Palestinians. It is significant that earlier this week, Israel launched an air raid on a Syrian village - the first such attack in several years. This was perceived by many as a message to Washington, which was seen as soft-pedalling on Syria in recent months. The White House has promptly responded and demonstrated its solidarity with the bellicose Israeli government.
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This is a reaction to the war in Iraq and the nosedive of the American economy. Extending the Iraqi mess to neighbouring countries will hardly help Mr Bush in his race for re-election. That would explain the element of ambiguity that still remains - the administration has said it wants to study the language of the bill on Syria. [After 2 years! ed.]"

King of Jordan Says U.S. Foreign Policy Naive

Yahoo! News - King of Jordan Says U.S. Foreign Policy Naive: "King of Jordan Says U.S. Foreign Policy Naive | Wed Oct 8, 9:37 AM ET

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. ally the King of Jordan said on Wednesday that Washington's foreign policy was naive and lacked cultural sensitivity though President Bush (news - web sites) was committed to Middle East peace.

'American politics aside, the president is committed to the peace process,' said King Abdullah. 'Unfortunately the United States is still somewhat naive or lacks the cultural sensitivity they would need to have, not only in our part of the world.'

'There is a perception in the Middle East that America is biased (against Arabs and Palestinians),' he told a seminar on the second day of a three-day official visit to Sweden. "

Syrians Angered by Israel Raid, Slam U.S. Reaction

Excite - News: "Syrians Angered by Israel Raid, Slam U.S. Reaction Oct 6, 9:22 am ET By Inal Ersan

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrians voiced anger on Monday over Israel's air strike near their capital, calling for reprisals, and many said they were even more enraged by the U.S. reaction.

The raid, Israel's deepest into Syria since the 1973 Middle East war, was a shock to many Syrians.

'I couldn't believe my ears when I heard. I wish I was there with a shotgun in my hand,' said Maher Awad, a taxi driver."

Israel said the raid, which followed a suicide bombing that killed 19 people in an Israeli restaurant, targeted a training camp for Palestinian militants. Syria denounced the attack and urged the United States not to block a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning what the Syrian foreign ministry called "this aggressive operation."

However, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte accused Syria of harboring "terrorists" and steered clear of criticizing the Jewish state for the strike.

"This man (Negroponte) was talking as if he owns the world telling us we are terrorists. Did he forget what (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon did in Sabra and Shatila (refugee camps)?," said Abou Qassem, an elderly man.

Sharon, then defense minister, is widely blamed in the Arab world for the 1982 massacre by Israeli-backed Lebanese Christian militiamen in Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon in which hundreds of civilians were killed.

"There is no sense of right and wrong anymore," Abou Qassem said. "Those Americans and Israelis think they are strong but they forget that God is stronger."
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"All this talk about peace is false. What the Israelis really want is new massacres," said Abu Salah, 50, a resident of Beirut's Shatila camp.

Midwife of terrorism: Bush and his bluster reinforce the image that the United States is at war with the Arab world

This Just In | The Progressive magazine: "October 7, 2003 | The Road to War Goes Through Washington | Matthew Rothschild

One of the most obtuse rationales for the Iraq War was that overthrowing Saddam Hussein would help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. As the neocons liked to say, the road to peace in Jerusalem goes through Baghdad.

But Saddam is no longer in power, and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is hotter than ever. Palestinian suicide bombers continue their indefensible assaults on Israeli civilians, while Ariel Sharon and his flock of hawks continue to tear apart the so-called road map, vowing last week, for instance, to build 600 new homes on the West Bank and to keep erecting a wall deep into Palestinian territory.
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Not surprising, then, that the Bush Administration continues to wink at the recklessness of the Sharon policies. Bush himself has not uttered a harsh word about Sharon in eighteen months, instead placing virtually all the blame on the Palestinian side. After the strike on Syria, Bush amazingly said that Sharon "must not feel constrained" in defending itself.

This just gives Sharon a green light for further incendiary actions.
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Bush's warm embrace of Sharon, his denunciations of the Palestinians, and his bluster about Syria only serve to reinforce the image that the United States is at war with the Arab world.

It's that image--and increasingly that reality--which is a midwife of terrorism.

U.S. Criticizes Syria After Israeli Raid

Excite - News: "U.S. Criticizes Syria After Israeli Raid Oct 6, 12:11 pm ET By Megan Goldin

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States chastised Syria on Monday for 'harboring terrorists,' but had no harsh words for Israel's air raid near Damascus that followed a Palestinian suicide bombing of an Israeli restaurant."

U.S. Avoids Criticism of Israeli Raid ... at odds with that of most of Europe and the Arab world

Yahoo! News - U.S. Avoids Criticism of Raid, but Urges Caution on Israel: "U.S. Avoids Criticism of Raid, but Urges Caution on Israel Mon, Oct 06, 2003 By DOUGLAS JEHL The New York Times

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 The Bush administration sought Sunday to distance itself from Israel's airstrike inside Syria, with senior officials saying the United States had no advance warning of the attack and no solid evidence that the target was in fact a terrorist training camp.
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But the administration seemed to be avoiding any criticism of the attack, which Israel described as retaliation for the suicide bombing that killed 19 people in Haifa, in northern Israel, on Saturday ...
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In its reluctance to criticize the Israeli raid, the American stance was at odds with that of most of Europe and the Arab world, whose leaders roundly condemned what they called a dangerous increase in tensions in the Middle East by Israel. "

Alleged terrorist training camp attacked by Israeli warplanes has long ago been used as play area by picknickers

Excite News: "Syria Demands Actions Against Israel | Oct 6, 5:21 AM (ET) | By BASSEM MROUE

EIN SAHEB, Syria (AP) - Filled with fig and olive trees, an alleged terrorist training camp attacked by Israeli warplanes had long ago been abandoned by Palestinian militants and was used instead by picknickers, residents said.

Israel claims the Ein Saheb camp was used to turn out militants for the Islamic Jihad extremist group. Its airstrike on Sunday - retaliation for a suicide bombing - was the first attack deep inside Syria in three decades.
Syrian security forces swiftly cordoned off the site 14 miles northwest of Damascus. Reporters were barred from entering.
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"It is a camp that was closed decades ago," said Kamal, who like other villagers refused to give his full name. "Before today's incident, any person could go into the camp area. We used to take the kids to play in the valley."

Residents say groves filled with olive and fig trees in the camp are popular for people taking picnics and walks."

UN Security Council Calls Meeting on Israeli Attack

Excite - News: "UN Security Council Calls Meeting on Israeli Attack Oct 5, 12:23 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council called an urgent meeting for Sunday at the request of Syria, which is asking the 15-member body to condemn Israel for attacking an alleged Palestinian training camp near Damascus, U.N. and Syrian officials announced."

Arab League to Meet on Israeli Raid: "state terrorism"

Excite - News: "Arab League to Meet on Israeli Raid in Syria Oct 5, 10:58 am ET

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Sunday he would meet League permanent representatives later in the day to discuss Israel's strike deep inside Syria, which he described as 'state terrorism.'"

U.S. Gets Unusual Rebuff From Annan on Iraq [Resolution]

Excite News: "U.S. Gets Unusual Rebuff From Annan on Iraq Oct 3, 8:54 AM (ET) By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States got an unusual rebuff from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for its new resolution to get more troops and money to help stabilize Iraq. France, Russia and Germany also signaled another tough battle ahead in the U.N. Security Council.

But unlike the contentious dispute earlier this year over a resolution to authorize the U.S.-led war, nobody is threatening a veto. It is too early to say, however, whether the United States will get the minimum nine 'yes' votes to adopt the new resolution in the 15-member council.

Annan, the French, Russians and Germans want a quick transfer of power to a provisional Iraqi government that would then draft a constitution and hold elections.

'Obviously, it's not going in the direction I had recommended, but I will still have to study it further,' Annan said Thursday of the new U.S. draft.
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Still, Annan's outspoken opposition to the thrust of the U.S. draft was bound to influence some council members. ...
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Either the coalition or the United Nations should lead the process, Annan told the members, but the best solution would be for a provisional Iraqi government to be installed quickly because that would enable the world body to help the Iraqis directly, the diplomats said.

According to U.N. diplomats, Annan has said having Iraqis control their country would make it easier politically for other nations to contribute troops and money because they would not have to deal with the current U.S.-British occupation authorities."

US policies driving hostility toward America: 3 reports show dramatic drops in Muslim/Arab world

POLITICS-U.S.: It's the Policy, Stupid: "October 2, 2003

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (IPS) - A blue-ribbon panel on U.S. public diplomacy is calling on President George W Bush not only to sharply increase funding to more effectively explain U.S. policy to an increasingly hostile Islamic world, but also to narrow the gap between U.S. values and what Washington actually does in the region.

That is the distinct -- albeit partially hidden -- message a new report on how better to communicate with Muslim populations from North Africa to South-east Asia, released at the State Department Wednesday by former President George H W Bush's top Middle East adviser, Edward Djerejian.
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'Spin' and manipulative public relations and propaganda are not the answer'', according to Djererian's report. ''Foreign policy counts''.

''Surveys indicate that much of the resentment toward America stems from real conflicts and displeasure with policies, including those involving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iraq'', the report said.

''Sugar-coating and fast talking are no solutions. . . '', the 80-page report advised.

The message appears to be a direct challenge to neo-conservative and right-wing hawks in and around the administration who have been arguing that Washington's policies are simply misunderstood and that the key to winning hearts and minds in the Islamic world was to implement more imaginative ways of expressing them.

As Bush himself said when asked about growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the Arab world, ''I just can't believe it. I know how good we are and we've got to do a better job of making our case.''

While hardly disagreeing with the necessity of ''making our case'' more effectively, the new report stresses that Washington needs to listen far more carefully to what people in the Islamic world themselves are saying.

''Public opinion in the Arab world and Muslim world cannot be cavalierly dismissed','' according to the report, which stressed that the gap between professed U.S. values -- which are widely appreciated among Muslims -- and actual policy is often too deep to ignore or paper over.

''Citizens in these countries are genuinely distressed at the plight of Palestinians and at the role they perceive the United States to be playing, and they are genuinely distressed by the situation in Iraq,'' it said.

Publication of the report, entitled 'Changing Minds, Winning Peace', comes amid growing concern among U.S. policy elites about a rising tide of anti-U.S. feeling in the Islamic world.

Just last week, a second task force of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York reported that the rise in anti-Americanism in Muslim countries and beyond was so great that it was ''endangering our national security and compromising the effectiveness of our diplomacy''.

''Growing anti-Americanism means that foreign leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to cooperate with us,'' said CFR chairman Peter Peterson, who served as Treasury Secretary under former President Richard Nixon. ''That is a sober and practical reality''.

Concern has become especially pronounced since the publication in June -- immediately after the Iraq War -- of surveys of predominantly Muslim countries showing a dramatic plunge in favourable perceptions of the United States compared to the similar polls taken in 2000 and 2002.

In Indonesia, for example, only 15 percent of respondents expressed favourable opinions for the United States, a steep decline from 61 percent the year before, while, in the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey, Washington's image was found to be even worse.

''The bottom has fallen out of support for America in most of the Muslim world'', the June report by the Pew Global Attitudes Project concluded, in a phrase that was repeated virtually verbatim at the beginning of the Djerejian report released Wednesday.

''Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels,'' the new report stressed. In addition to the survey results published by Pew in June, Djerejian and 14 other members of the task force, all of them with considerable experience and extensive contacts in the Islamic world, conducted interviews and meetings in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, and Senegal as part of their assessment.
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According to the Djerejian report, Washington should have an advantage in communicating with the Muslim world due to the degree to which Arabs and Muslims identify with fundamental U.S. values.

''Our values and our policies are not always in agreement, however,'' according to the report. ''The U.S. government often supports regimes in the Arab and Muslim world that are inimical to our values but that, in the short term, may advance some of our policies.''

This was due in part to U.S. ''ambivalence about the possibility that democracy's first beneficiaries in the Arab and Muslim world will be extremists'', as a result of which Washington is caught in a ''deep contradiction''.

''We must take these key policy challenges in the region seriously, and we must minimise the gap between what we say (the high ideals we espouse) and what we do (the day-to-day measures we take)'', the report said. (END/2003)

'Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels,': US image plummeting among Muslims and Arabs abroad

Yahoo! News - U.S. Must Counteract Image in Muslim World, Panel Says: "U.S. Must Counteract Image in Muslim World, Panel Says Wed, Oct 01, 2003 By STEVEN R. WEISMAN The New York Times

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 The United States must drastically increase and overhaul efforts to salvage its plummeting image among Muslims and Arabs abroad, a panel chosen by the Bush administration has found.

'Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels,' the panel stated in its report, which will be released Wednesday. 'What is required is not merely tactical adaptation but strategic, and radical, transformation.'

The report added that 'spin' and manipulative public relations 'are not the answer,' but that neither is avoiding the debate. A copy of the report was made available Tuesday to The New York Times.

The panel warned that the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and the intensified conflict in the Middle East had increased anger at the United States, and that people throughout the world were ignorant of or misinformed about American policies ...
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The advisory panel said that it recognized that American policies might well be the root of the problem, but that Washington could do far more to present its side of the issues and rebut widespread misinformation among Muslims overseas.