After 1945, the U.S. schemed to eject the bankrupt British and French colonial empires in the Middle East--to elbow out Soviet influence, but, more likely, to secure political control over its oil. America's Oil Raj, as some commentators call the interdependent network of political, monetary, and military relationships--mirroring Britain's collection of territories and petty kingdoms on the Indian subcontinent--consists of the old imposed artificial colonial client states created by Britain and France. Outside of this "Oil Raj" exists a trade-sanction regime that the U.S. maintains on Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Algeria, the Sudan, Afghanistan, and, until recently, India and Pakistan--all some of the poorest places in the world.
The Cycle Continues
The U.S. sends billions in financial and military aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan each year to prop up these regimes against "fundamentalist" popular Islamic movements (which are the only way dissent can be expressed in these regimes, since Islam is the only thing these rulers can't outlaw). The U.S. also gives political support to corrupt and oppressive dictatorships, such as exist in Algeria and Tunisia. Everywhere, the U.S. favors and aids the status quo of political repression and dictatorship. This hypocrisy is what fuels Arab and Muslim anger.
Foreign Affairs commentator Eric Margolis noted recently the continuing cycle of American political involvement in the Middle East. He points out that in nearly every decade since the mid-fifties, a president of the United States has faced a challenge of a Muslim peril, an Arab or Muslim bogeyman that is everywhere and nowhere--Nasser, Khomeni, Khadafy, Saddam, and, now, bin Laden. And every time, the results have been the same: U.S. demonizes this single man, only to watch him grow into a popular hero of the Arab masses--the Arabic or Islamic David that dares to stand up and confront the U.S. oil dominion over the Arab world and the economic and political distortion that the US leaves in its wake.
Now, the cycle is beginning again with Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Osama bin Laden. And it has been reported that in the Middle East over the past few years, Osama has become the most common name for newborn boys.
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How many times can you poke at a snake and not expect to get bit?
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