Jerusalem Cloakroom #199

Root Causes of Anti-US Islamic Terrorism
(2^nd part in a series)

by Yoram Ettinger
yoramtex@netvision.net.il

December 4, 2006

1. Jim Baker’s track record. Until the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, then Secretary of State Jim Baker placated Saddam Hussein by a transfer of sensitive technologies, by $5BN loan guarantees, by intelligence-sharing, by referring to a potential invasion of Kuwait as “an inter-Arab issue”, and by attempting to break the back of Israel’s Prime Minister Shamir. Thus, Baker energized rogue regimes and fueled turmoil in the Gulf and beyond, second only to the turmoil triggered by Jimmy Carter’s pandering to Khomeini. In 2006, Baker – just like Carter – is determined to learn from history by repeating – rather than by avoiding – past critical errors.
    

2. Islamic terrorism has been a global phenomenon, unrelated to the Palestinian issue, to Israel’s policy, to Jewish settlements or to Israel’s existence. It has plagued India, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Australia, Nigeria, Sudan, Algeria, Mauritania, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Scandinavia, Holland, France, England, Russia, the USA, etc.
    

3. Islamic terrorism misperceived. Tony Blair briefed the “Baker Iraq Study Group” (Nov. 2006): “Progress on the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and the establishment of a Palestinian State, is essential for any solution in Iraq and for moderating Arabs and Muslims.” Blair’s miscomprehension of the core causes of Islamic terrorism has been exposed by the Head of England’s M15, Eliza Manningham-Buller (Nov. 2006): “Since July 2005, 200 Islamic terrorist cells and 1,600 Muslim terrorists have been identified, and 5 major homicide plots have been foiled, in England. Also, would-be British Muslim homicide-bombers were arrested before blowing up airplanes flying across the Atlantic” (Aug. 2006).
    

4. Victims of Islamic terrorism have been mostly Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and also Jews.
    

5. Exempt from Islamic terrorism are Iran, Syria, Saddam’s Iraq, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Yemen, Muslim Sudan.
    

6. Most Muslims are not terrorists, but most terror organizations and most terrorists are Muslims. Most Muslim terrorists benefit from – and advance the interests of – host Muslim regimes. More than non-Muslim terrorist organizations, Muslim terrorist organizations are state-supported.
    

7. Islamic terrorism has been a Mideast fixture since the 7^th century, afflicting the region, each Arab country and the entire globe (to be elaborated in 3^rd part of the series).
    

8. According to Baker’s cost-effective ingenuity, rather than flex a muscle against Iran and other rogue regimes, instead of challenging the Palestinian Authority of Terror, the US should suspend disbelief, shrink the Jewish state to the defenseless 1949 lines and establish a Palestinian state. Such a contriving approach would, supposedly, moderate the Middle East and mollify the unprecedented wave of anti-US Islamic terrorism. Does Baker really believe that a connection exists between the Palestinian issue and the aforementioned Islamic terrorism? Does he actually assume that the less-than-a-century-old Palestinian issue is the core cause of the 13-century-old Islamic terrorism and Mideast violence? If there were such a connection, then it would behoove the US to focus on minimizing Mideast violence and Islamic terrorism, which would facilitate the resolution of the Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict.