Why Us? A historical look into U.S. policy leading up to the September 11th terrorist attacks
By Veronica Backer-Peral
A special thanks to my mentor, Professor Ali Olomi, for his support and guidance.
Taking only the last half-century into account, relations between the United States and the Middle East tell the story of two seemingly antithetical societies plagued by incessant warfare and bitter conflict. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even before that, the U.S.’s role in the 1953 Iranian coup, have certainly contributed to that image. As such, it might be surprising to learn that just a century ago, the United States was seen as a beacon of hope across the Middle East. Before the Second World War, Britain and France had the reputation of being oppressive, imperialist powers, bent on the exploitation and domination of their colonies. In contrast, the United States was seen not only as an isolationist power, but also as an ex-British colony that understood the pains of oppression, subsequently revolted, and became a nation of wealth, hope, and prosperity. This notion is best exemplified in Philip Hitti’s article published in the Arab journal, Al-Hilal (qtd. in Makdisi), where he wrote:
“You will feel as though you have arrived in a country [America] whose inhabitants are giants among men. When you enter the city and walk among the people, you ... will then realize that you are not in a country like others, and you are not among a people like others, but rather among a people superior in their qualities, distinguished in their vitality, and unique in their abundance of energy.”1
Given this generally positive outlook of the United States, shared by Middle Eastern scholars at least through the first World War, the same question that Americans across the country asked themselves in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack emerges: why us? There is no justification for terrorism or for any civilian-targeted act of violence, but this does not negate the importance of studying how the image of the United States abroad has changed over time, and what actions might be linked to this shift. An examination of the United States’ shift away from an isolationist foreign policy towards one of military and political interventionism provides insight on the recent growth of anti-Americanism across the Middle East.
Over the last century, the United States has held itself as a champion of democracy. In an address in 1982 to the British Parliament, Ronald Reagan proudly claimed that “we have to consider here today while time remains is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries.”2 This notion is one that has remained fairly consistent at least through the Obama administration. However, the graph below shows the extent to which U.S. foreign policy actually has been characterized by a disregard of democracy abroad. In Figure 1, I show how not only has the United States rarely backed democratically elected leaders, but it has actually been extremely inconsistent in terms of which ideologies it has supported. From the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan to the Wahhabi-Saudi leadership in Saudi Arabia, the United States has shown no qualms with backing theocratic authoritarian dictators. At the same time, the U.S. sided with the Afghan Mujahideen religious rebels in their overthrow of the Communist regime but condemned the Irani Ayatollah for doing the same thing to the Shah.
However, the question still remains — what has motivated the surge in U.S. interventionism if not the promotion of democracy? I find that there are three core motives for U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the course of the last century:
(1) Economic interests
(2) The Cold War
(3) The creation and preservation of the state of Israel
The most significant economic interest in regards to United States involvement in the Middle East is also one that is well known and well studied, oil. The United States’ relationship with Middle Eastern petroleum can be traced as far back as the early 1940s when it began importing substantial amounts of oil from several nationals. Among the most influential of these relationships was that with Saudi Arabia. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the country imported an average of 871 thousand barrels of petroleum every day in 2018 from Saudi Arabia.3 Not coincidentally, the U.S. has historically prioritized this economic relationship over the promotion of its values, consistently overlooking the countless humanitarian abuses in the Saudi-ruled nation.
Another factor that consistently impacted the United States’ relationship with various Middle Eastern nations was the Cold War. While U.S. efforts to stop communism began with economic tactics such as the Marshall Plan, which promoted containment by injecting billions of dollars of economic assistance into European nations, the US government also resorted to other, more illicit, forms of resisting the Soviets. Figure 2 shows an image of one of many textbooks, created in the University of Nebraska and taught to elementary school students in Pakistan.4 This particular page is meant to teach students how to count—how to count one rifle, two grenades, three shotguns, etc. The example problems found within the textbook further encourage anti-Soviet resistance. It is through books like these that a culture of violence directed towards the communists was imposed upon the children who would come to create the Mujahideen that liberated Afghanistan of the Communists, and in doing so allowed for the rise of the Taliban, one of the most devastating oppressive regimes in modern history.
Finally, the United States’ support for Zionism and the state of Israel has been one of the most influential, albeit controversial, motivations for U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the last century. In 2018 alone, the United States gave $3.1 billion dollars in aid to Israel.5 Since its creation, total U.S. aid to Israel is estimated at $142.3 billion current U.S. dollars, making Israel the “largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.”6
It is through this framework that we can finally look at the rise of Al Qaeda and the ensuing September 11th attacks. Al Qaeda, a paramilitary group emerged in the aftermath of another U.S. conflict on Middle Eastern land, the Gulf Crisis. Its infamous leader, Osama bin Laden, though sheathed in religious rhetoric, repeatedly offered three very political criticisms of the United States: excessive involvement in Saudi Arabia politics (including deploying and maintaining troops on Saudi soil), abandoning Afghanistan in a state of political turmoil after instigating the Soviet-Afghan war, and continued support for the creation and defense of the state of Israel. It should not be surprising, then, that these three complaints directly reflect the three main policies of the United States in the Middle East.
While there is no single policy that can reverse decades of turbulent relations between these two regions of the world, an honest appraisal of our complex collective history is essential if we are to hope for a more cooperative, peaceful future.
References
1. Makdisi, Ussama. "Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of a Brief History." The Journal of American History 89, no. 2 (September 11, 2002).
2. Reagan, Ronald. “Promoting Democracy and Peace.” Presented at the Address to British Parliament, June 8, 1982.
3. U.S. Department of Energy. "U.S. Imports from Saudi Arabia of Crude Oil." U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last modified February 28, 2019. Accessed March 5, 2019. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/ LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRIMUSSA2&f=M.
4. “Textbooks Used in Pakistan Refugee Camps.” University of Nebraska, n.d. UK Royal Naval Archives.
5. “U.S. Foreign Aid by Country.” Accessed May 27, 2020. https://explorer.usaid.gov//cd.
6. Sharp, Jeremy M. “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel.” Congressional Research Service, August 7, 2019
A special thanks to my mentor, Professor Ali Olomi, for his support and guidance.
Taking only the last half-century into account, relations between the United States and the Middle East tell the story of two seemingly antithetical societies plagued by incessant warfare and bitter conflict. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even before that, the U.S.’s role in the 1953 Iranian coup, have certainly contributed to that image. As such, it might be surprising to learn that just a century ago, the United States was seen as a beacon of hope across the Middle East. Before the Second World War, Britain and France had the reputation of being oppressive, imperialist powers, bent on the exploitation and domination of their colonies. In contrast, the United States was seen not only as an isolationist power, but also as an ex-British colony that understood the pains of oppression, subsequently revolted, and became a nation of wealth, hope, and prosperity. This notion is best exemplified in Philip Hitti’s article published in the Arab journal, Al-Hilal (qtd. in Makdisi), where he wrote:
“You will feel as though you have arrived in a country [America] whose inhabitants are giants among men. When you enter the city and walk among the people, you ... will then realize that you are not in a country like others, and you are not among a people like others, but rather among a people superior in their qualities, distinguished in their vitality, and unique in their abundance of energy.”1
Given this generally positive outlook of the United States, shared by Middle Eastern scholars at least through the first World War, the same question that Americans across the country asked themselves in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack emerges: why us? There is no justification for terrorism or for any civilian-targeted act of violence, but this does not negate the importance of studying how the image of the United States abroad has changed over time, and what actions might be linked to this shift. An examination of the United States’ shift away from an isolationist foreign policy towards one of military and political interventionism provides insight on the recent growth of anti-Americanism across the Middle East.
Over the last century, the United States has held itself as a champion of democracy. In an address in 1982 to the British Parliament, Ronald Reagan proudly claimed that “we have to consider here today while time remains is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries.”2 This notion is one that has remained fairly consistent at least through the Obama administration. However, the graph below shows the extent to which U.S. foreign policy actually has been characterized by a disregard of democracy abroad. In Figure 1, I show how not only has the United States rarely backed democratically elected leaders, but it has actually been extremely inconsistent in terms of which ideologies it has supported. From the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan to the Wahhabi-Saudi leadership in Saudi Arabia, the United States has shown no qualms with backing theocratic authoritarian dictators. At the same time, the U.S. sided with the Afghan Mujahideen religious rebels in their overthrow of the Communist regime but condemned the Irani Ayatollah for doing the same thing to the Shah.
However, the question still remains — what has motivated the surge in U.S. interventionism if not the promotion of democracy? I find that there are three core motives for U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the course of the last century:
(1) Economic interests
(2) The Cold War
(3) The creation and preservation of the state of Israel
The most significant economic interest in regards to United States involvement in the Middle East is also one that is well known and well studied, oil. The United States’ relationship with Middle Eastern petroleum can be traced as far back as the early 1940s when it began importing substantial amounts of oil from several nationals. Among the most influential of these relationships was that with Saudi Arabia. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the country imported an average of 871 thousand barrels of petroleum every day in 2018 from Saudi Arabia.3 Not coincidentally, the U.S. has historically prioritized this economic relationship over the promotion of its values, consistently overlooking the countless humanitarian abuses in the Saudi-ruled nation.
Another factor that consistently impacted the United States’ relationship with various Middle Eastern nations was the Cold War. While U.S. efforts to stop communism began with economic tactics such as the Marshall Plan, which promoted containment by injecting billions of dollars of economic assistance into European nations, the US government also resorted to other, more illicit, forms of resisting the Soviets. Figure 2 shows an image of one of many textbooks, created in the University of Nebraska and taught to elementary school students in Pakistan.4 This particular page is meant to teach students how to count—how to count one rifle, two grenades, three shotguns, etc. The example problems found within the textbook further encourage anti-Soviet resistance. It is through books like these that a culture of violence directed towards the communists was imposed upon the children who would come to create the Mujahideen that liberated Afghanistan of the Communists, and in doing so allowed for the rise of the Taliban, one of the most devastating oppressive regimes in modern history.
Finally, the United States’ support for Zionism and the state of Israel has been one of the most influential, albeit controversial, motivations for U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the last century. In 2018 alone, the United States gave $3.1 billion dollars in aid to Israel.5 Since its creation, total U.S. aid to Israel is estimated at $142.3 billion current U.S. dollars, making Israel the “largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.”6
It is through this framework that we can finally look at the rise of Al Qaeda and the ensuing September 11th attacks. Al Qaeda, a paramilitary group emerged in the aftermath of another U.S. conflict on Middle Eastern land, the Gulf Crisis. Its infamous leader, Osama bin Laden, though sheathed in religious rhetoric, repeatedly offered three very political criticisms of the United States: excessive involvement in Saudi Arabia politics (including deploying and maintaining troops on Saudi soil), abandoning Afghanistan in a state of political turmoil after instigating the Soviet-Afghan war, and continued support for the creation and defense of the state of Israel. It should not be surprising, then, that these three complaints directly reflect the three main policies of the United States in the Middle East.
While there is no single policy that can reverse decades of turbulent relations between these two regions of the world, an honest appraisal of our complex collective history is essential if we are to hope for a more cooperative, peaceful future.
References
1. Makdisi, Ussama. "Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of a Brief History." The Journal of American History 89, no. 2 (September 11, 2002).
2. Reagan, Ronald. “Promoting Democracy and Peace.” Presented at the Address to British Parliament, June 8, 1982.
3. U.S. Department of Energy. "U.S. Imports from Saudi Arabia of Crude Oil." U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last modified February 28, 2019. Accessed March 5, 2019. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/ LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRIMUSSA2&f=M.
4. “Textbooks Used in Pakistan Refugee Camps.” University of Nebraska, n.d. UK Royal Naval Archives.
5. “U.S. Foreign Aid by Country.” Accessed May 27, 2020. https://explorer.usaid.gov//cd.
6. Sharp, Jeremy M. “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel.” Congressional Research Service, August 7, 2019
Figure 1
|
Figure 2
|
