us_ch12_webquest

=**U.S. Tries For Middle East Peace...but Fails to Understand Jihadists**=

Ronald Reagan ranks among the best presidents in our history (rankings by both conservative and liberal measures) due to the economic prosperity that resulted from his policies and lasted 25 years and brought down the oppressive Soviet Union ending the Cold War, liberating millions from Communism oppression.


 * (1) Finish the sentence: Reagan ranks as one of our best presidents since his policies...**

Reagan himself noted that one of his shortcomings was that he was unable to change the culture in D.C. to reduce the size of government. A major error was in the area of foreign policy (an error made by previous presidents before Reagan and after) was in dealing with the Middle East. The error is in traditional foreign policy thinking that all nations desire peace. In the Cuban Missile Crisis, at least Khrushchev saw peace as preferable to nuclear war.

In 1983, Lebanon was engulfed in a civil war. Marines were deployed to Lebanon as part of a "peacekeeping" mission that lacked an attainable goal and didn't employ the rules of engagement sufficient to allow the Marines to defend themselves. When 241 Marines were killed by a suicide bomber, the U.S. withdrew the forces since there was little that could be accomplished by staying. Unfortunately, withdrawal showed the lack of appreciation for the longer term threat --- the growing danger posed by the rise of radical Islamic fundamentalism.


 * (2) Traditional foreign policy thinking wouldn't work in the Middle East because (as we know today) radical Islamic fundamentalists (terrorists) don't want p _ _ _ _, they want an I _ _ _ _ _ _** **(Muslim) empire.**

The mistake Reagan (and others before and after) made in dealing with the Middle East is they believed "Moderate Muslims" existed in hard-core Islamic nations. Reagan approved AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) sales to Saudi Arabia, thinking the Arab world would see it as a gesture that the U.S. was evenhanded between Israel and Arab nations. He thought it would bring the Saudis into a peace movement. Menechem Begin (leader of Israel) wasn't persuaded. In 1981, Israel attacked a site in Iraq after intelligence came into Israel that Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) was trying to get a nuclear weapon. Lebanon became problematic after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1947-48 when Palestinian refugees moved to Lebanon...wanted to create a "Palestinian refugee crisis" to blame Israel. In the late 1950s, Palestinians were evicted from Jordan and crossed into Lebanon joining the 400,000 Palestinians already there and formed a "state within a state" inside Lebanon and formed the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) under the loose control of Yasir Arafat. They began to stage attacks on Israel from inside Lebanon. In 1982, Israel went into southern Lebanon and cleared out PLO rocket bases. There would be a cease fire agreement although the PLO continued to shell Israel. Furthermore, no Muslim nation wanted "Palestinian refugees" due to the constant threat of political insurrection.


 * (3) Why was the PLO (under Yasir Arafat) a type of terrorist organization and how did their actions show the goals of radical Islamic Jihadists?**

Reagan thought if both sides "talked it out" they could reach a peace. Israel didn't see it that way since the radical Islamic groups (PLO) wanted to wipe out Israel...hard to compromise on something like that! Reagan sent Philip Habib to get a peace and he arranged a truce. The PLO and Israel would leave Lebanon and be replaced by a multinational force of Marines as well as French and Italian military units. Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger was against this and said that Marines defending an area with rules of engagement is different than Marines sitting at Beirut Airport, but Weinberger failed to convince Reagan.


 * (4) "Rules of engagement" means that the Marines in a combat zone would be allowed to use their weapons for security measures. Sitting at the airport to try to keep peace in Lebanon did not permit these rules of engagement. Why would the Marines lives be in more danger without the rules of engagement?**

The multinational force got to Beirut August 20, 1983. In the past, Truman (Korea) and Eisenhower (Suez crisis) both wanted to use the U.N. and collective security and from then on all operations involving the U.N. stopped being about establishing a clear winner and loser and instead the U.N. focus became borders, truces, negotiations, conferences, agreements, and above all cooperation. For example, in Korea no clear winner was determined (even though the Communists were stopped from achieving their goal of taking over) and there is no treaty - just an ongoing ceasefire. Meanwhile, North Korea remains an oppressive Communist nation. U.N. "peacekeeping" efforts were unable to prevent wars (mostly civil wars) - there had been 55 civil wars in the world from 1945 to 1973.


 * (5) In your opinion, what was wrong with the U.N.'s focus, which was not on establishing clear winners and losers in conflicts?**

By 1982, Reagan had inherited a presidential tradition of inviting the U.N. to participate in U.S. national security decisions. U.S. leaders hoped to use the U.N. to promote democracy, but this hope was based on the misconception that the U.N. leaders actually opposed Communism. In addition, Carter's Camp David Accords led Reagan to believe he could get agreements with other moderate Muslim nations.


 * (6) Remember the Camp David Accords between E _ _ _ _ (with Sadat) and I _ _ _ _ _ (with Begin) ended with Sadat getting a by radicals in his own army. This showed that radical Muslims were anti-I _ _ _ _ _.**

Earlier in 1982, the Syrian army massacred thousands of their own residents but since it was Arabs killing other Arabs without the possibility of blaming Israel, it went unnoticed by the international community. U.S. "peacekeeping" Marines got to Beirut September 28, 1982. The Israelis left, but Muslim and Druze militias battled. Two days before the Marines arrived, U.N. observers were killed by a mine. This should have shown the danger.

Rapid post-WWII expansion of the West and even Japan, literally left the Middle East in the dirt. A few nations (like Saudi Arabia) had oil and the wealth dispersed among a few families. Other Islamic nations - Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, and Syria - all lacked substantial oil reserves and received second class treatment by other Muslim nations. Israel was a convenient scapegoat. Government schools in the Middle East taught that Jews were devils, pigs, and evil.


 * (7) How was education in the Middle East indoctrinating students toward hatred against Israel?**

Political hatred of the West was funneled into the Muslim Brotherhood, the forerunner of al-Qaeda, and was founded by Sayyid al-Qutb in the 1950s. He came to the U.S. in 1948 (as a student at Colorado State College of Education) and by the time he went back to Egypt, he was a full-blown radical and bigot obsessed with "the white man in Europe and America" who was "our number-one enemy." In addition, he said a "Muslim community" did not exist, only an Islamic revival that would sweep the world, starting in his home country. For such remarks, al-Qutb was arrested in his home nation of Egypt and executed.


 * (8) If the Muslim Brotherhood was the forerunner of al-Qaeda, what does that tell you their beliefs were?**

Radical Islam already spread, not just in the Muslim Brotherhood, but also in the Mosques as sermons were being preached that had anti-Jew sentiment and vengeance against Western themes. Al-Qutb's stance was passed on to another Egyptian, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had been radicalized since age 15 and called for the defeat of the Jewish and American devils. He was jailed in 1981 as part of the Sadat assassination and his jail time hardened his radical beliefs. After his release, he relocated to Saudi Arabia where he met Mohammad bin Laden, whose construction companies did a lot of kingdom business. Al-Zawahiri also met bin Laden's son, Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden eventually fell under the influence of the "warrior priest" Shikh Abdullah Azzam, who held radical views saying "Jihad and rifles alone, no negotiations, no conferences, no dialogues.


 * (9) Based on the Sheikh's influence on Osama bin Laden, could radical Islamic Jihadists be dealt with to form a peace treaty? You know this because...**

Osama bin Laden saw the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 as a struggle against infidels, so he went to Afghanistan and joined the Mujahideen and here he was reunited with al-Zawahiri. Both formed al-Qaeda ("the base"), which was not yet on the radar of any nation's intelligence services. A radicalized strain of Islam that blamed all problems on Israel and the West was spreading more than most were willing to admit. The West had a preoccupation with "Moderate Muslims" even though there was no such thing when it came to Israel. School children in the Middle East, like in Iran, were being indoctrinated, or taught the radical beliefs and hatred for Israel and the West. However, not too many in the 1980s saw Islamic fundamentalism as dangerous and many of the terrorist activities had links to Communism.

So, why did many misjudge the extent and depth of Islamic radicalism? Diplomats downplayed Islamic carnage. Traditional Cold Warriors interpreted it as a smaller piece in a global conflict between the free world and the Communist Bloc and all but the Israelis treated Islamic terror as a massive case of "Arab boys gone wild." Probably the first example of a terrorist hijacking occurred in 1968 when an El Al flight was hijacked by militant Palestinians. This same group seized other flights, then hijacked four airlines at the same time and landed in Jordan. Hostages were traded for prisoners. It was here that then President Nixon began the air marshal program. In 1972, Yasir Arafat's Fatah organization sent Black September terrorists to take the Israeli Olympic team hostage in Munich. In 1976, Palestinians hijacked Air France Flight 139 and flew to Uganda where terrorists had a safe haven under thug Idi Amin. The hostages were rescued by Israeli commandos and the terrorists were all killed. A year later, a German flight was hijacked and forced down in Somalia and a similar rescue took place and the hijackers were eliminated. Furthermore, there was an overwhelming early focus on Israel. Bombs went often went off in crowded markets in Jerusalam and Tel Aviv, but the Western press ignored them. Since 10 hijackings between 1970 and 1982 were carried out by non-Muslim groups, terror acts often went misreported as non-Islamic related attacks. Attacks on the Syrian government (for siding with Lebanese Christians) were not considered Islamic terror acts by the press since they happened to other Muslims. Murders of Jesuit priests and Dominican nuns in Zimbabwe,the seizure of D,C, council chambers, and bombs near U.S. owned Parisian Discount Bank in 1978, plus oranges from Israel spiked with mercury by Palestinians, as well as bombs in Turkey, brought no major concerns. Assassinations of moderates in 1978, more hijackings and bombings in Israel in 1979, bombings in Turkey and France, plus one in Cyprus and Vienna, and more incidents that were prevented too place, yet still no one was urging concern about radical Islam. From 1960 to 1980, Jihad came to mean a struggle against Israel and their allies and moderate Muslims would be attacked too.


 * (10) What SHOULD have been reported in terms of acts of the Palestinians and other radical Islamic groups from actions in the 1970s?**
 * (11) How do you think the lack of concern in the world in terms of radical Islam empowered the Jihadists and hurt future policymakers when dealing with the Middle East.**

Iran's revolution in 1979 should have shown problems with the view of "Moderate Muslims." The Shah's (leader of Iran who was overthrown) father had modernized Iran to levels close to Turkey by 1978. One cleric, the Shia Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini opposed 1963 reforms that broke up large land estates, granted women the right to vote, and allowed non-Muslims to hold office. He was exiled by secret police in 1964. From 1964 to 1979 Khomeini formed an ideology based on the principle that the West had to be stamped out and he preached Jihad and martyrism (dying for the Jihad). When the Middle East oil boom brought large numbers of rural, uneducated, and traditionalist Muslims to cities, they drifted into revolutionary groups. President Carter had scolded the Shah when he cracked down on fundamentalism in Iran to restore order, which further emboldened the revolutionaries. In Iran, rebels won control in the streets and Khomeini took over and formed the "Islamic Republic." The Shah eventually came to the U.S. for medical treatment. Khomeini demanded the U.S. send him back to face execution. Carter denied the demands, which led to Iranians storming the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took Americans hostage. Carter's immediate inaction convinced Islamic radicals that the U.S. was weak. Jihadism revealed itself to be a religious, not political movement.


 * (12) How did the Ayatollah's seizing power and the hostage crisis show that the Jihadists were growing in terms of being a major world problem?**

Ronald Reagan stepped into office guided by a world view reflecting two basic interpretations: (1) Soviet mischief in the region (Middle East) was to blame for the turmoil and (2) Islamic radicalism was a minor but growing influence and traditional motivations - territory, prosperity, peace - would be valued. The last in a long line of events to challenge this world view was in April 1983 when Hezbollah (funded and supported by Iran), one of the newest terror groups sent a suicide bomber into the compound of the U.S. embassy in Beirut and killed 63 and wounded 102. In October 1983 a truck went past two sentries (limited by a lack of rules of engagement) slammed into a building with Marines at Beirut Airport and killed 241 Marines. One also hit a French post and killed 58. Muslim radicals expected an attack in response and Iran even thought they'd be attacked. Both said they weren't afraid and wanted to see Allah. Few in America grasped the extremists apocalyptic views. The CIA director warned (by January 1984) of the extremists' willingness to sacrifice their lives believing they were serving Allah. Reagan was concerned about an attack in the U.S. so he stopped going to church since he didn't want a whole congregation to get attacked.


 * (13) Why were Islamic radicals a different type of enemy than what America had previously been use to?**

Lebanon slowly moved Reagan away from the notion that the Middle East was like any other region in terms of diplomacy. Pulling the troops out also sent a message that the U.S. "won't stick." In December 1983, the Reagan Administration developed the term "state-sponsored terrorism" to describe nations (specifically Iran) that helped fund terror groups (this was a step short of identifying an entire religious wing as dangerous). The West still hoped to work with "Moderate Muslims" in moderate Islamic nations - Reagan saw Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), the Saudi royal family, and King Hussein of Jordan as reasonable and shaped much Middle East strategy around them. Perceptions that militant Islam was also blurred in the U.S. effort to aid the Mujahideen with antiaircraft weapons and aid to beat teh Soviets in Afghanistan --- this group would lead to Taliban control --- which also showed that no one had a full grasp of radical Islam's intentions.

America's committment to the value of life became a weakness in the eyes of the Jihadists, not a strength. Osama bin Laden in 1996 said "We have seen in the last decade the decline of American power and the weakness of the American soldier who is ready to wage Cold Wars, but unprepared to fight long wars. This was proven in Beirut in 1983 when the Marines fled after two explosions." Osama bin Laden was convinced that America was too weak to fight the lengthy war that would be necessary to defeat the Jihadists. Reagan's mistake in 1983 was not only that he put the Marines in Lebanon under conditions in which they could scarcely defend themselves, but also in confirming in theminds of the Islamic radicals that the U.S. lacked resolve by withdrawing them. This is the brand of terrorism that we are fighting today.

Radical Muslims want complete adherence to the Koran. Democracy and the freedoms we enjoy are not compatible with Sharia law, law of the Koran, and so radical Muslims oppose any such intervention in the Middle East. Americans wonder why the radical Muslims would oppose Democracy and freedom. The answer is because they only see Allah as the source of law, not Democracy...voting and such.

Why are there peaceful parts and then contradictory violent parts on the same issue in the Koran. The reason is when Muhammad first began Islam, he wrote peaceful verses in the Koran. However, this new religion was rejected by the tribes in the Arabic world. He then went to Medina and raised up an army. At this point, his verses in the Koran were violent. So, which verses do you listen to if you're a Muslim? Hence, the issue. Many moderate Muslims justify the violence, but in all accuracy, the terrorists are more in line with what Muhammad taught. Muhammad himself killed those who didn't follow Islam and encouraged others to do so.


 * (14) Why would bin Laden believe the terrorists would win against America in the long run?**
 * (15) Before this web quest, did you think that Islamic terrorism began Sept. 11, 2001 or a year or two before?**
 * (16) Many anti-war Progressives/Far Left individuals and groups try to say that America's influence in the world and greed for oil is what caused the terrorists to attack on Sept. 11, 2001. From the history you've just read, how do you know that this is not true?**
 * (17) What is it going to take to defeat the terrorists (they aren't in just one nation)?**


 * Now you'll need to complete a 500 word research paper on the full history of Islam. Click here to get started**

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