Goodbye to the Middle East

On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy challenged America to create and produce the technology necessary to land a man on the moon, and to return him to safety before the end of the decade.

Forty years later, President Bush had the opportunity to not only challenge America, but the Western Nations as well, to create and produce an alternative fuel source that is safer and cheaper than oil by the end of this decade – a fuel source to be shared by the West.

Such an achievement not only would be a great step forward for civilization, but it would also mean an end to the dependence on the Middle East and their oil.

As a group, the Western Nations will be able to pack up their culture, their values, their religion, and more importantly their money, and leave the Islamic countries to fend for themselves.

Like most common hijackers, Osama Bin Laden made demands in exchange for an end to world wide terrorism: The United States military has to leave Saudi Arabia, end the economic embargo and military attacks against Iraq, and abandon the alliance with Israel.

Bin Laden’s (and the Islamic fundamentalist’s he wants to lead), hatred of the United States is not directed toward our freedom or our democracy, but towards our way of life.

There is a perceptible conflict between a heavily devout religion such as Islam, and American pop culture manifested in Madonna videos, Rap music, tight jeans, Heavy Metal Rock and Roll, scantily clad Baywatch babes, and Hollywood movies. The Islamic faith appears unable to reconcile both cultures in the same society.

Osama Bin Laden is exploiting this inability to reconcile by preying on the fears of devoted Muslims. This is a Zero Sum contest between the Islamic faith and American pop culture, a contest fundamentalists are determined to fight to the end.

Deeply religious Americans struggle with American pop culture every day. Parents look to the government for help in keeping certain aspects of the culture away from their children.

Bin Laden’s solution is isolation from the West. Building another Great Wall in the Middle East around the Islamic countries is impracticable, and will not stop the tide of influence of American pop culture. Movies, radio, television and the Internet are the most influential catalysts of American pop culture throughout the world. If the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan are an example of the government Bin Laden wants to establish, then the Muslim countries will live under a system where television and radio will be banned.

Unilateral American withdrawal from Saudi Arabia, abandonment of Israel, and the end of hostilities with Iraq will be seen as a defeat, and an end to American military prestige. On that principle alone, we should never give in to a criminal.

However, we have supported Saudi Arabia by purchasing their oil, and the West has made the Saudi Royal family very rich. Our government has sold weapons systems, and provided military protection against Iraq. We have validated an authoritarian dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.

For our support, Saudi Arabia has funded Madrassas throughout the Islamic world teaching young boys the radical version of Islam Osama Bin Laden believes in.

In a sense, the Saudi government has duped us. They have taken our money, our military hardware and personnel while using their vast fortune establishing schools that teach hatred towards America.

In addition, Saudi Arabia as well as other “friendly Muslim” governments have tolerated fundamentalist movements in their own countries. These governments have traded internal stability for appeasement.

The point of terrorism is to bring “chaos to order.” And our country is being severely tested. At some point, we as a nation have to decide not only how much will we tolerate chaos, and should we even associate with those who will do nothing to end the threat of chaos coming from their countries.

Also, we as Americans have to ask ourselves how much more are we willing to invest in money, manpower, and our lives protecting a region of the world filled with hatred and contempt toward us. Is the Middle East worth the effort?

In America, living in a capitalist society, we are consumers, and when a product does something to offend us, we choose to boycott it by refusing to purchase the product, or by seeking out an alternative. Either way, we have decided to effect change through the power of the purse.

In creating an alternative fuel source, the West will have power over the Middle Eastern countries, the power to bankrupt a valued industry. Osama Bin Laden and his fundamentalists will have all the isolation they can desire.

However, Bin Laden and his supporters will be disappointed to see ancient hatreds emerge within there own countries as ethnic rivalries and religious differences flair up bringing chaos to their attempt at order.

And if one ruler attempts to expand his empire by military conquests, the West can simply shrug it off because oil will no longer have the value it once had.

It is highly unreasonable to believe the Jews will ever give up or walk away from Israel. I would hate to see the day when Islamic fundamentalists destroy Christian and Jewish holy sites just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan; therefore we cannot and will not completely abandon the Middle East as long as Israel is a sovereign nation. On those points, our country should never cave in to a criminal. And we should always encourage peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Our best bargaining chip will be security for the Palestinians, as in who would you feel more secure with: Israel, or the warring Islamic factions?

The time has come to put the interests of humanity ahead of the pursuit of profit. Let us end this economic relationship with the Middle East once and for all, and grant the fundamentalists their wish: isolation from the West, and the Middle East can live in abject poverty.

REPRINTED FROM SEPT/2001