Obama's Policy in the Middle East: Where Have all Our Friends Gone?

Leaders around the world have already seen the "new era of relations" that President Obama will ask Arabs to embrace in his upcoming speech, and they see it as a minefield of deception, double standards and hypocrisy. Although it is right for us to support the oppressed people in the Middle East, I expect most Arab leaders will reject the President's invitation.

KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - This is a busy week for President Obama as he attempts to reach out to the Muslim world. His schedule includes meeting with the King of Jordan on Tuesday and with the Israeli Prime Minster, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday. He is also scheduled to deliver a speech on U.S. policy in the Middle East on Thursday. According to Solomon and Lee of the Wall Street Journal, he is going to ask the people of the Muslim world to reject al Qaeda and Islamic militancy and "embrace a new era of relations with the U.S." But will they trust him? Based on some of the news and analysis I have read, it seems unlikely. It appears that we have lost the trust of the major oil producer in the region. This is evidenced by something quite disturbing that Tom Brokaw said during a news broadcast on NBC last month. He said that the Saudis were so unhappy with the way that the Obama administration pushed Mubarak of Egypt out of office that they are seeking business opportunities with China and Russia. Under normal circumstances it is presumed that these business opportunities would have been ours. Martin Indyk's reference to the situation was considerably stronger. In an article for The Washington Post, he said that while Saudi Arabia historically relied on America during troubled times, King Abdullah "views President Obama as a threat to his internal security." The king "fears that in the event of a widespread revolt, Obama will demand that he leave office, just as he did to Mubarak, that other longtime friend of the United States." Consequently, the Saudi king is looking to Pakistan should he need help. Benny Avni echoed a similar sentiment in the New York Post when he said the Saudis have reasons for being furious with Obama. Avni wrote that President Obama's "on-again, off-again support of Mideast democracy (at best) fails to distinguish between friend and foe." King Abdullah, Avni wrote, "is dismayed at the speed with which Obama threw an Arab ally, Egypt's President Mubarak, under the bus"; yet, remained subdued during the 2009 uprising in Iran. Avni also noted that our government harshly criticized King Abdullah for sending troops into his protectorate, Bahrain, in order to put down a rebellion which he views as an Iranian-backed, Shiite uprising. Our State Department essentially put the King's action on a par with the much more brutal suppression that is occurring in Syria. Avni also pointed out that "Syria is an ally of Iran, helps anti-American insurgents in Iraq and supports Hezbollah and Hamas -- while Bahrain hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet's headquarters."  
 
Avni further noted that Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, "increasingly feels under siege. Iran has allies gaining strength in Yemen to the south and Iraq to the north and, most acutely, Bahrain and the Saudis' own eastern regions, where Shiites are the majority -- and America is no help." Avni advises us that "We can't democratize the whole Arab world at once, so Obama for now must keep friendships with the few old regimes that remain our allies." Based on Douglas Hamilton's article published by Reuters, our best ally in the region and the only true democratic nation in the region, Israel, also feels a sense of dismay and betrayal. With the ousting of Mubarak, they have lost one of their few friends in a region that is outright hostile to them. Shimon Peres, the President of Israel, politely stated that "We always have had and still have great respect for President Mubarak. . . . He kept the peace in the Middle East." However, Hamilton informs us that Israeli newspaper columnists were not so polite in their remarks. For instance, in the Maariv, Aviad Pohoryles wrote a commentary entitled "A Bullet in the Back from Uncle Sam," which accused President Obama and Hillary Clinton of "pursuing a naive, smug, and insular diplomacy heedless of the risks. Who is advising them, he asked, 'to fuel the mob raging in the streets of Egypt and to demand the head of the person who five minutes ago was the bold ally of the president . . . an almost lone voice of sanity in a Middle East?'" There is also some indication that the Obama administration acted to remove Mubarak in secret. An article by Tim Ross in the Telegraph reported that "In a secret diplomatic dispatch, sent on December 30, 2008, Margaret Scobey, the US Ambassador to Cairo, recorded that opposition groups had allegedly drawn up secret plans for 'regime change' to take place before elections, scheduled for September this year." Furthermore, the embassy helped one of the activists attend a US State Department summit for youth activists in New York and remained in contact with him. But Mubarak is not the only Mideast leader "thrown under the bus" of late. America and what appears to be a handful of allies representing NATO forces--France, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy are the names most mentioned--attacked Libya's Moammar Gadhafi after he tried to suppress a rebellion in his country. Yet, similar suppression in other countries such as Syria and Iran is ignored. One thing that is disturbing in this case is that Gadhafi has cooperated with the West in recent years while Syria and Iran have conspired against us. And it appears that Gadhafi strongly opposes al-Qaeda. In addition, Reuters reports that thousands of people have been killed in the extended fighting. Furthermore, based on an article by Piero Gheddo in Asia News, Gadhafi has made significant efforts to improve life for his people in Libya since the nineties. He has built schools, universities, hospitals, and provided running water to all Libyans. He has also done a lot for the liberation of women. Gheddo also says that Gadhafi has controlled Islamic fundamentalism and asked Pope John Paul II for religious sisters trained as nurses to work in Libyan hospitals. As a result, today there are eighty nuns in Libya and thousands of nurses and Catholic doctors. Consequently, Gheddo says, Libya has become one of the most tolerant Muslim countries toward Christians. Also disturbing is that some of the Libyan rebels are members of al-Qaeda. An article in the Telegraph reported that the rebel commander, Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, says he fought against us in Afghanistan, and he recruited men who fought against us in Iraq. Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood supposedly supports him, and members of al-Qaeda, whom he calls good Muslims, have joined forces with him against Gadhafi. And while we are meeting with these rebels at the White House, the International Criminal Court is reportedly processing an arrest warrant for Gadhafi. In addition, President Obama seems to have a certain sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood, which many people see as a dangerous fundamentalist group that wants to establish an Islamic state in Egypt and throughout the world. This sympathy may have been evidenced when President Obama signaled approval of the Muslim Brotherhood's participation in talks with the provisional Egyptian government during the demonstrations but not the Coptic Christians. In an article titled "Obama's Brotherhood Moment," Robert Malley, an Obama adviser, said that "Obama's expression of willingness to see the Brotherhood as part of a ruling coalition in Egypt was a 'pretty clear sign that the U.S. isn't going to advocate a narrow form of pluralism, but a broad one.'"  But not so broad it seems to include the Copts. This is a problem because the Copts are descendants of the original Egyptians, and they represent the largest religious minority in the Middle East. Consequently, to overlook them as President Obama did is a direct threat to democratic reform in Egypt. The Copts' concern can be gleaned from the first sentence in the article. It reads "Game over: Barack Obama has endorsed a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in a new, post-Mubarak government for Egypt." Watching these events unfold in the Middle East reminds me of the Eighth Commandment. It says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It is telling us that we must not misrepresent the truth to others. Being truthful is so fundamental to human relationships that the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that people can only live together when they can trust they are being truthful with one another (2469). It is similar for nations. According to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the international community requires that relations be justly regulated according to the principles of reason and exclude all forms of deceit (433). And it must be founded on the sovereignty of each member state; the recognition of their unique characteristics, identities and cultures; and mutual trust, support and respect (434 435). These elements must prevail because if they do not, then distrust and a lack of cooperation will naturally prevail. Leaders around the world, especially those in the Middle East, see the way President Obama and his administration have treated our Arab friends. They have seen the way this administration repeatedly "fails to distinguish between friend and foe." As a result, we have already lost the trust and friendship of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who is now looking elsewhere to build future coalitions. I suspect others will follow Saudi Arabia's lead. No wonder President Obama wants to reach out to the Muslim world. I know that Mubarak and Gadhafi are dictators. I oppose dictatorships, and I support democratic change. I also know that their people have suffered under their rule. This is especially true for the Copts whom I deeply respect. Nevertheless, you do not "throw friends under the bus," even lukewarm friends. It is right for us to support the people, but it is wrong to disregard the fundamental principles necessary for the just ordering of international relations. Therefore, I expect most Arab leaders will view President Obama's invitation to "embrace a new era of relations with the U.S." as a minefield of deception, double standards and hypocrisy. And the world will likely become more dangerous and less free for years to come.
 
----- Michael Terheyden was born into a Catholic family, but that is not why he is a Catholic. He is a Catholic because he believes that truth is real, that it is beautiful and good, and that the fullness of truth is in the Catholic Church. However, he knows that God's grace operating throughout his life is the main reason he is a Catholic. He is greatly blessed to share his faith and his life with his beautiful wife, Dorothy. They have four grown children and three grandchildren. -----

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