Americans have every reason to be horrified by the terror attacks against U.S. targets in Africa. There will never be justice in murdering innocent people. But a failure to understand the sources of such violence will only hinder efforts to thwart it in the future.
Eight years to the day after the arrival of the United States 82nd Airborne Division to Saudi Arabia, bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Is this a coincidence? Days after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the U.S. sought and obtained permission from Saudi King Fahd to station American troops there on the condition that they would leave once the threat of Iraqi aggression had ended. Nevertheless, U.S. military presence continues to this day–to the dismay of many Saudis, including Crown Prince Abdullah.
Today, comfortable relationships between the U.S. and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan seem to be taken for granted by our government despite the sentiments of growing numbers of people within these (and other) countries. A careful examination of the reasons why anti-American feeling is on the rise should lead to changes in our foreign policy vis-a-vis these countries. Apparently, however, where strategic and economic interests are at stake, respect for the integrity and the political climate of independent nations plays a very small role.
U.S. control over Arab oil, its unconditional alliance with the state of Israel coupled with the failure of the Clinton administration to intervene over the failed Oslo peace accords, crippling 7-year-old economic sanctions imposed upon Iraq (which have been particularly devastating to civilians) and the continued American military presence in Saudi Arabia all weaken friendly sentiments toward the United States. If there is a Saudi connection to bombings in East Africa, and there are good reasons to believe there may be, the warning bells should be heeded in Washington.
