The Bush administration keeps telling us that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network attacked the U.S. because "they hate our freedom." This is a very dangerous misconception, and one that will continue to impede any progress towards Middle East peace or winning the "war on terror." They do not hate our freedom. They hate our policies.
More specifically, the real reasons for al-Qaeda's attacks on the U.S. and on U.S. interests overseas are twofold and actually quite simple: they resent the U.S. government's financial and military support for Israel, and they resent the presence of U.S. military bases on Arab land. Let's examine each of these concerns, and then look at some possible solutions to both.
First, the U.S. government's large-scale support for Israel, which ultimately funds and equips the Zionist movement, is a curious policy, considering that a 2002 survey by the University of Chicago found that only 1.5 percent of U.S. citizens described themselves as Jewish (and also considering that a sizeable percentage of the Jewish American population does not subscribe to the Zionist agenda). According to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations, Israel is the number-one recipient of American foreign aid, receiving some $2.1 billion in military financing and $600 million in economic aid per year. As long as the U.S. persists in its direct or indirect support of Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Arab world will continue to perceive the U.S. as a hostile enemy force.
Second, Islamic extremists disapprove of the proliferation of U.S. military bases on their "holy ground." They perceive the U.S. military presence in Arab countries as a threat. They see it as a show of anti-Arab support for Israel and greed for Arab oil. These impressions have been reinforced - and perhaps exacerbated - by the Bush administration's preemptive war on Iraq, abuse and torture of prisoners, and long-term detention without legal recourse of countless Arabs and Arab- Americans on suspicion of terrorist activity or terrorist ties.
Until these issues are recognized, accepted, and dealt with, the chances are slim that we will achieve peace in the Middle East or win the "war on terror." While it may seem unlikely that the Bush administration will face the facts and adjust its policies accordingly any time soon, there are some things that we, as citizens of the U.S. and citizens of the world, can do to get the process started:
1. Pressure the U.S. government to order Israel to halt the misuse of U.S. weapons to commit human rights violations. These weapons include helicopters, fighter aircraft, and anti- tank missiles, as well as "weaponized" U.S.-made Caterpillar bulldozers used by Israeli "settlers" in the unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes and land. Transfer of these weapons to Israel should be suspended immediately until Israel can guarantee that U.S. weapons will not be misused in this fashion. While most people surely agree that the killing of innocent Israelis by Palestinian suicide bombers cannot be justified, the solution is not to seek revenge by attacking innocent Palestinian men, women, and children, or by destroying their homes and their livelihoods.
2. Work toward reducing U.S. dependency on Arab oil. Not only would this help to promote world peace, it could help to curb global warming by implementing alternative energy resources to replace America's excessive use of fossil fuels. Cleaner energy alternatives, from hybrid cars and biodiesel to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, are ultimately cheaper, more naturally abundant, healthier, and more environmentally responsible than petroleum-based fuels.
3. Protest unnecessary U.S. military intervention in Arab nations. Support by Americans for the war in Iraq is now at an all-time low, as is probably the case worldwide. But we must not stop protesting the Bush administration's aggressive and arrogant approach to foreign policy lest the U.S. next turn its preemptive military attention to other Arab nations, such as Iran or Syria, in its so-called "war on terror" and self-proclaimed mission to "spread democracy." The war in Iraq did nothing to discourage terrorists. To the contrary, it gave Islamic extremists even more reason to see the U.S. as a threat to Arab and Islamic resources, traditions, and culture.
Do not buy into the claim by conservatives that wanting to understand the terrorists' motivations is the same as sympathizing with the terrorists. Fighting terrorism with Bush's cowboy-style tactics is clearly not working. We need a more realistic approach that addresses the root causes, not just the symptoms.
Creating a more peaceful world will take years of hard work, but we must not give up. The alternative is unthinkable.
