In order to understand the United States’ position in the Middle East, you have to understand the history and the events that led to the current situation. During the Cold War, the U.S. played a prominent role in the Middle East in an attempt to counter Soviet power, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S. power in the Middle East became extremely prominent. Many events since World War 2 have taken place involving the United States that has brought us to where we are today in the Middle East.
In this article, I will try to dispel some myths about the true intentions of the United States in the Middle East. Politicians always try to use the humanitarian aspect to justify their actions while hiding their true intentions.
1) “The U.S. wants to spread democracy in the Middle East.” Clearly the United States intentions are not to spread democracy; it’s about ensuring the governments in power are friendly to the United States. This is evident from the recent democratic elections that took place in Palestine, where the Hamas was democratically elected to power by the people. Shortly after these democratic elections, the US and other Western countries cut off aid to the Palestinian government and have resulted in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians becoming impoverished. A UN report states that the number of people living in “deep poverty”, (defined as the inability to meet basic human consumption needs) in Palestine has increased by 64% during the first half of 2006. It is also evident by the history of the United States toppling democratically elected governments and installing pro-US dictators such as the U.S. placement of Reza Shah Pahlavi in Iran.
2) We are fighting in Iraq to protect ourselves. It is simply not true that Iraq was a threat to the people within the United States. This is evident by the fact that the number of resources allocated to the only group who has successfully attacked the United States on its own soil is vastly smaller than the number of resources sent to Iraq. If the United States was truly there to protect itself, it would have focused on finding Bin Laden instead of using outright lies to justify military action in Iraq.
3) A nuclear Iran is a threat to Israel or the United States. A nuclear Iran is not a threat to the United States or Israel other than for causing instability in the region. If Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon, it surely wouldn’t be stupid enough to use it. The nuclear weapon is clearly a bargaining tool in today’s world. This is partly a result of a few countries including the United States who refused to comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and fully disarm from Nuclear weapons. If Iran actually used a nuclear weapon, it knows the consequence of this and Iran would probably cease to exist after such an action. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad loves to shoot off his mouth for political reasons; the problem is it allows Western media to scare its people into thinking that Ahmadinejad would be crazy enough to use a nuclear weapon against Israel.
4) We’re not fighting because of oil. Above all else, oil is the number one factor that defines the United States policy in the Middle East. The United States economy relies so heavily on Middle East oil that its economy would collapse if Middle East exports were jeopardized. This is evident from the 1973 oil crisis, where a group of Arab oil exporting countries boycotted the exporting of oil to the United States and other allies who supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war. This threw the United States economy into disarray and it become evident to the American leadership that control in the Middle East is vital to the survival of the “American” way of life.
I have to start writing an essay tonight for my Middle East History class, so since my mind was on the United States and oil tonight, I think I’ll write on this topic. One of the topics in the list is “How was the isolationist United states able to achieve oil concessions for American companies in the inter war period?”
Since World War Two, the actions of the United States have put the country in a negative light in the world’s view. Before the Bush Administration, the United States already had the difficult task of re-gaining respect around the world and dispelling the “arrogant” view that many people had about the States. The Bush Administration has worsened the situation for the United States and the next Administration to take power will have a very difficult task ahead of them. In my mind, the solution to United States’ issue is a) Reducing the dependence in the United States on foreign oil, b) Being more objective in Middle East matters instead of automatically and unequivocally supporting Israel on every issue and c) The rise of China as a global superpower to counter the weight of the United States and limit its ability to carry out actions around the world that serve only its own interests.