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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TH who wrote (60925)	12/10/2002 4:14:53 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Carter Accepts Nobel Peace Prize cbsnews.com <<..."Jimmy Carter will probably not go down in American history as the most effective president," said Berge. "But he is certainly the best ex-president the country has ever had."...>>

To: TH who wrote (60925)	12/10/2002 6:07:42 PM
From: Noel de Leon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

"As for point 2. I do not disagree with you statement, but I think I am looking at a different point in regards to U.S. support for Israel. And that is the origin of the anti-western sentiment. My point is that U.S. aid to Israel has helped mobilize the Arab population. Oil has always been a factor of course, as well as the general influence of the West, but this support of Israel by the U.S. is/was a polarizing issue." I think that there is an awareness(sub-conscious or conscious) among many in the Arab world that the root cause of the decline in Arab fortunes lies with the total lack of freedom and democratic institutions(Turkey is an exception and only partially at that). This is lack, in the minds of many in the Arabic world, supported by the US(directly and indirectly). Hence some of the anti American/British feeling. Some is also caused by the US/Israel connection as well. This anti US/British feeling would not disappear were Israel to disappear because the root causes lie elsewhere. The sense of frustration must be massive among both the educated and uneducated since they can see what has been achieved in North America and Europe under a free society. But any attempt by the local population to change the dictatorial systems in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, etc. has always been met by massive repression. My point is that this problem is not one of a clash of civilizations but rather a problem of freedom vrs. feudalistic dictatorships. Oil, of course, plays a role, but only because those countries with oil are being supported by the US(and they are all dictatorships). Afghanistan, the former eastern satellites of the USSR, and Africa are largely ignored by the US and Europe. Certainly no effort is being expended to put democratic institutions into these areas although the end result in Afghanistan is not in yet.