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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 24, 2003

Viewpoint: Middle East Calls for Peace and Stability

Since the "9.11" terrorist attacks, the US Middle East strategy has gone far beyond the anti-terrorism need, it carries the clear stamp of using unilateralism to re-standardize world order.


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Two months have elapsed since the United States announced the conclusion of its major operations in Iraq. The name and nature of this war have triggered intense controversies and serious thinking.

The various previous pretexts for starting the war, which seem to be either clay dolls in water or floating clouds in summer days, have not only left behind disputes, but have become laughing stocks. On the other hand, the war has brought untold sufferings on the Iraqi people, and has caused tremendous impacts on the pattern of the Middle East.

After the Iraq war, the Middle East pattern again experienced further integration under US supervision. The original fundamental problems of the region, instead of being alleviated, have given rise to new contradictions. Recently, US Middle East strategy has been frequently obstructed, terrorist attacks directed against the United States have occurred here and there in Iraq and other places. Middle East media generally hold that only fair peace can bring lasting stability to the region, otherwise, things can only go contrary to one's wishes.

Marked by the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime, the United States has consolidated its cooperative relations with its allied countries in the Middle East, its political influence and military presence in the region have also been strengthened accordingly. On this basis, US new Mid-east strategy has formed a "one point, two wings" offensive, i.e., with Iraq as the new base, it pressurizes Syria in the west and presses Iran in the east.

Around the time of the "September 11, 2001" incident, Syria was included by the United States into the list of the six "countries supporting terrorist activities", while Iran, Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were branded together as "the axis of evil countries" by Washington. After the Iraq war, US relations with Syria and with Iran have undergone drastic evolutions, becoming two windows in the new state of the Middle East pattern.

On the question of Syria, the United States demands that Syria restrict Palestinian radical organizations' activities in Syria, while Syria calls for joint efforts with Lebanon to restart the peace process with Israel. At the same time, under American pressure, Syria has begun to reduce the scale of its troops stationed in Lebanon. Syria-US relationship is changing in the direction from estrangement and hostility before the Iraq war to contact and dialogs.

On the other hand, the United States is making a big fuss about the Iranian nuclear issue and agitates Iran's domestic "democratic reform" forces to speed up change. While coping with outside pressure, Iran stresses that it has the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. After the Iraq war, the US-Iran relationship immediately changed into a new hot spot in the Middle East region. There is the view that the Iraq war will possibly generate the "domino effect" in the Middle East region and elsewhere.

Taking two important steps to improve US image in the Arab world, the United States energetically promoted implementation of the "Road Map" after the Iraq war, at the same time, it put forward the proposal for the establishment of a "Middle East free trade zone" in 10 years.

Making it as a "consolation" on the expedition against an Arab country, President George W. Bush personally went to the Middle East in early June to twice discuss matters with related Arabic heads of state, he exhibited eager utilitarianism in the affairs of Middle East peace talks, the rising and falling waves surging since the start of the "Road Map" at the end of April indicates that the United States still sticks to its double standards between Palestine and Israel, particularly on the question concerning Yasser Arafat, which is the main reason for the difficulty in making major progress in the peace process.

The over 50-year-long Arab-Israeli disputes have proved that only peace talks can realize peace, the advocacy of violence and abuse of force have no way out. This truth should be recognized by both sides and put into practice, one cannot restrain one side, still less make a promise and not keep it. In this sense, how to fairly implement the "Road Map" plan not only has a great bearing on the success or failure of the Middle East peace process, it is all the more a test to US sincerity in improving relations with Arab countries.

In terms of the anti-US national feelings in the Middle East region, the root cause lies in the continuation of the Palestinian humanitarian disasters, US repeated use of force against Arab and Islamic countries, as well as the dual attacks and distorted propaganda by Western forces against Muslim nations and Islamic religion in international affairs, which cannot be justified by the new version of "civilized conflict theory".

Since the "9.11" terrorist attacks, the US Middle East strategy has gone far beyond the anti-terrorism need, it carries the clear stamp of using unilateralism to re-standardize world order. After the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Qaeda network and other old-brand terrorist organizations secretly engage in concealment diffusion, the once quiet trend of fundamentalist thought has taken advantage of the opportunity to stage a comeback and has hastened the birth of new terrorist organizations and radical forces.

At present, US Middle East strategy is facing a series of serious challenges, matters such as Iraq's reconstruction, peace process and anti-terrorism struggle are urgent. But there is only one crucial issue: As long as the reality of the norms of international law and the diversity of civilization is disrespected, the Middle East will continue to be in turbulence and instability caused by years of many troubles.

By People's Daily Online


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