THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 108, May 11, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST:
SOOTHING RHETORIC, SCARY REALITY
By Michael Rubin
AMERICAN & EUROPEAN OFFICIALS' BLIND SPOT REGARDING ISLAMIC TERRORISM & THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT:
THE INSINCERITY & NAIVETE UNDERLYING WESTERN POLITICIANS' & BUREAUCRATS' RHETORIC ABOUT THE TERRORISTS'
SOCALLED COMMITMENT TO & ADVANCES IN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY -- STRENGTHENING THE FORCES OF TERROR &
PUTTING ISRAELI LIVES ON THE LINE
FULL STORY:
The death of Yasser Arafat and the fall of Saddam Hussein have changed the political landscape of the Middle East. Iraqis defied
insurgent threats to vote in their first free election in a half century. Palestinians likewise queued to elect a new leader. The democratic
wave spread fast. Lebanese outrage at the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February, 2005, culminated in the end of
Syria's long military occupation of Lebanon and in the demand for truly free elections in Lebanon.
The democratic wave has emboldened dissidents to voice unprecedented criticism against dictators. In Damascus, for example,
Aktham Naisse openly called for the repeal of the emergency laws upon which the Syrian regime derives dictatorial power. In Libya,
Fathi al-Jahmi, a former provincial official, challenged Muammar Gadhafi to hold contested elections. In Egypt, Ayman al-Nour
likewise challenged President Hosni Mubarak.
Dictators have taken notice and adopted the rhetoric, if not the substance, of democracy. While Saudi officials trumpet the Kingdom's
first-ever municipal elections, few Saudis have accepted as sufficient the resulting councils, which have neither legislative nor
budgetary authority.
Iranian leaders have likewise coopted the rhetoric of democracy. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini repeatedly promised an Islamic
democracy, even as he ushered in dictatorship. "By the time we learned what he meant, it was too late," a former revolutionary told
me, when I visited Isfahan in 1996. Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, labeled a reformer in the West, also twisted the meaning of
democracy, when he wrote that he supported the concept, so long as only those with "several years of [Islamic] studies" could fully
participate.
While American, European, and Israeli officials remain cynical about democratic rhetoric emanating from dictatorships, many remain
curiously blind to terrorist groups claiming a new commitment to the political process. On April 13, 2005, for example, U.S. White House
spokesman Scott McClellan labeled Hamas candidates who won elections "business professionals," a curious moniker for members
of a group responsible for the deaths of more than 400 Israelis in the past five years. European officials and American intellectuals
have repeatedly engaged Hamas. At the height of the 2002 suicide bombing campaign against Israel, Alistair Crooke, a European
Union security advisor, held talks with Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations last
year, Crooke argued that Hamas could be a political partner.
Despite its harsh rhetoric about the war on terrorism, the Bush administration has also gone wobbly on Hezbollah, an organization
responsible for the terrorist murder of more Americans than any other group prior to September 11, 2001. According to two former
Central Intelligence Agency officials, President Bush authorized outreach to the group in the wake of the World Trade Center attack.
The dialogue continued despite Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's October, 2002, comment that "if they [the Jews] all gather in
Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."
In a March 15, 2005, press conference, Bush offered political redemption for Hezbollah, if they laid down their arms. The failure of
engagement became clear one month later, when, in an interview with Beirut's Daily Star, a Hezbollah official both promised
Palestinian fighters whatever "material support" they needed to fight Israel, and also announced that Hezbollah would send
deputies to Europe to engage politicians and promote the group's activities "as a resistance group and political party."
In Egypt, too, American officials have reached out to Islamists whose commitment to the democratic process is dubious. Asharq
al-Awsat reported last month that American diplomats had held talks with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group whose armed wing is
responsible for thousands of Egyptian deaths. Not long after the diplomats' visit, terrorists detonated a bomb in a popular market
and sprayed a tourist bus with bullets.
Without fail, engaging terrorists backfires. On April 29, 2005, an Islamist website broadcast a speech by terrorist mastermind Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi citing American outreach as evidence of weakness. "The severe blows you dealt this enemy, by the grace of
Allah, forced America to beg for negotiations," he said.
While true constitutional democracy is the Achilles heel of Middle Eastern dictatorships, insincere commitment to constitutional
democracy can undercut peace and security. The sincerity of terrorists should no more be trusted than that of dictators. They may adopt
democratic rhetoric -- but words are cheap.
Any organization that targets civilians for political gain through violence and mass murder should be considered irredeemable, regardless
of whether, like Hamas and Hezbollah, the group provides social services: If Oxfam or Save the Children blew up buses, they would be
terrorist groups, not humanitarian organizations.
On May 2, 2005, Natan Sharansky resigned from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, warning that failure to link Israeli
concessions to Palestinian constitutional democratic reforms would "strengthen the forces of terror." American and European officials
may praise advances in Palestinian democracy, but Sharansky is correct to call into question the sincerity of such rhetoric. After all,
even as Middle Easterners genuinely strive for democracy, American and European officials have developed a track record of naively
valuing rhetoric more than reality.
Ultimately, it will be Israeli lives on the line.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Israeli-Arab Conflict
The Middle East & the Arabs
Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
War & Peace in the Real World
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Michael Rubin, Editor of the Middle East Quarterly, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
The foregoing article by Michael Rubin was originally published in Haaretz, May 6, 2005, and can be found on the Internet
website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
May 6, 2005
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