Imperial Hubris Series
Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer, 2004, Excerpts
The United States is hated across the Islamic world because of specific U.S. government policies and actions. That hatred is concrete not abstract, martial not intellectual, and it will grow for the foreseeable future. While important voices in the United States claim the intent of U.S. policy is misunderstood by Muslims, that Arabic television channels deliberately distort the policy, and that better public diplomacy is the remedy, they are wrong. America is hated and attacked because Muslims believe they know precisely what the United States is doing in the Islamic world. They know partly because of bin Laden’s words, partly because of satellite television, but mostly because of the tangible reality of U.S. policy.
We are at war with an al Qaeda-led, worldwide Islamist insurgency. None of the reasons have anything to do with our freedom, liberty, and democracy, but have everything to do with U.S. policies and actions in the Muslim world. Keep in mind how easy it is for Muslims to see, hear, experience, and hate the U.S. policies bin Laden repeatedly refers to as anti-Muslim.
- U.S. support for Israel that keeps Palestinians in the Israeli’s thrall.
- U.S. and other Western troops on the Arabian Peninsula.
- U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
- U.S. support for Russia, India and China against their Muslim militants.
- U.S. pressure on Arab energy producers to keep oil prices low.
- U.S support for apostate, corrupt, and tyrannical Muslim governments.
The Persian Gulf regimes – especially Saudi Arabia – are among the earth’s most corrupt, dictatorial, and oppressive. They rule peoples eager to be free of their yoke and who think their torturers survive because of U.S. protection. Washington and the West have supported the Muslim tyrannies bin Laden and other Islamists seek to destroy. We have nothing in common with the regimes; the tie is based overwhelmingly on the West’s obsession with cheap oil.
Few Muslims would oppose the destruction of these apostate governments that are among the planet’s most brutal, repressive, corrupt, and hypocritical, family ruled regimes that have the profits from oil sale to fund their own debauchery and rent the loyalty of their bankers, businessman, and academics.
The U.S. has allied itself with regimes whose barbarism has long earned the Muslim world’s hatred. It is America that is on bin Laden’s bull’s-eye; at this time, Russia, China, and India are not. We are in fight to the death with al Qaeda whether or not these states approve, and our support for them makes the fight harder because it again validates bin Laden’s contention that the United States is attacking Islam and supports any country willing to kill or persecute Muslims.
Washington’s half-century record of safeguarding tyrannies entirely discredits for Muslims any claim we make of intending to build democracies. The creditability issues that result from America’s proven taste for any Muslim tyrant who maintains internal order and stability, peace with Israel, and low oil prices destroys what little democracy-building potential we may possess.
