We've tended to think that religious fanaticism is the problem. We blame fundamentalists. Yet, the recent uprisings, the peoples’ revolt that is going on in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and others, now being dubbed the domino effect, is not about Islam but economic, military, and political tyrants.
Oh yes, it’s true, religious fundamentalists will want to take advantage of the occasion and work its ugly head into the picture. Let us brace ourselves for a possible radical Islamic Fundamentalist call for Jihad against the so called wicked West in some of these countries, if and when the uprisings succeed. Nevertheless, the passion that is fueling the fire in the belly of the populace toward a call for toppling these governments is not self-righteous Islamic dogma. It is a cry against the brutality of economic injustice, social oppression, and police-state rule. They want equity, justice, and just plain ole basic human rights. Freedom!
Oppression is oppression whether it’s religious or secular, economic or political or military. The sad part for us is that the U.S. has been in cahoots with many of these oppressive governments within the Middle East—Egypt being a most outstanding example, given our relationship with Mubarak. No wonder the people (who happen to be Islamic by faith) hate and resent us. They view us as hypocritical. We go to war in Iraq in the name of freedom and democracy yet we’ve been supporting so many oppressive governments in the Middle East—because of our economic interests (oil!) of course. So we reap the consequences—their hatred and their desire to see the U.S. taken down and humiliated.
Islamic Fundamentalists understand this, and have and will use this sentiment to their advantage. Is it possible for the U.S. to correct this and adapt to the peoples’ movement in these countries without being two-faced? What will it cost us in terms of our own Middle East policy, security, and economic interests? How much are we willing to let these Middle Eastern countries shape their future without too much meddling on our part? What should we be most worried about—Islamic Fundamentalists or loss of economic benefit, clout and influence in the region (oil!)?
For example, from their perspective (i.e. the peoples of Middle Eastern countries), the real reason why our government took us to war in Iraq was not because it genuinely believed Saddam Hussein had actual weapons of mass destruction nor was it to free the Iraqi people from his oppressive rule; rather, it was because our government feared that Saddam was no longer a dictator we could trust to keep Iraq’s oil reserves flowing in our direction to our advantage. It was our need to maintain some kind of controlling interest in Iraq’s oil fields that motivated us to go in and “take out Saddam.” This is the way they see it. Getting rid of an evil tyrant was only secondary, if even that, to our real motivating interest in keeping a stake-hold in Iraq’s oil reserves. Our relations with other oppressive rulers in the Middle East only served to bolster and strengthen this conclusion?
Let us not be naïve or willfully blind about this. We want, we need our oil. Is it not true that we would have much less concern about Middle East countries if they had no oil to speak of? Many African countries, for example, have suffered under more terrible dictators and tyrants than Saddam, yet we’ve not sent our armies into Africa. Why not? African countries do not have the kind of resources that can make or break the American economy as oil can. So, we are in a quandary. On the one hand our deep rooted American values demand that we always root for independence, democracy, and freedom. But our national economic interests and lifestyle demand that we ensure a free flowing shipment of oil from Middle East Countries, and if that means supporting dictators and tyrants, so be it. That’s been our policy to date. So, what now?
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