Opinion | Columnists
The veil of US adventurism finally lifted
Revelations of meddling in Iran show how its interventionist policy has backfired
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:03 October 19, 2008
Public opinion in the Middle East always suspected the United States is behind every trouble in the region, especially the bloody conflict that plagued the region in the past three decades. This is often dismissed by the elite as "conspiracy theory" or an attempt to justify our resignation to the subsequent defeats, setbacks and the rise of oppressive regimes in some parts of the Arab world. But the revelation on Friday that the US administrations under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford may have, albeit unintentionally, paved the way for the Islamic revolution in Iran would no doubt give credence to the idea the American hands-on intervention in regional affairs has often led to conflicts. It is no secret the US supported the anti-Russian Islamist fighters in Afghanistan. This, as we later realised, resulted in the rise of the Taliban and religious extremism, which a number of Arab states continue to battle today.
Between 1974 and 1976, Nixon and Ford decided to put pressure on the Shah of Iran - American officials suspected then he was behind the rise in oil prices which stifled the US economy. The move weakened the regime, which succumbed to a new breed of revolutionaries in the Middle East, according to a report based on newly declassified documents. The rest is history, as they say.
But the fact remains the radicalisation of the region was born mainly as a result of the US policy of direct intervention, in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and other places. However, this should not, in anyway, justify condoning terrorism or our inability to fight extremism. Terrorists, especially those who claim to speak in the name of religion, must be defeated. Meanwhile, we hope the new US administration would try to mend fences with the people in this region, which has had more than its fair share of bloody conflicts.
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