Peddling myths about US presence in the Middle East
MD-Toronto, Crescent–online
March 16, 2010 – 10:00am EST
A study by David Pollock, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) traps the US decision-making process in an illusionary perception of US-Arab relations. Pollock’s research, presented on March 11, focused on studying the anti-US actions of the wider Arab public.
In order to examine this phenomenon, the study produced the so-called Arab behavioral index. It claimed that since 2005, US image in the Arab world had improved as had cooperation between the US and Arab regimes. In support of his contention, Pollock stated that since only 3 million Arabs protested against the Iraq war, it was a sign that the Arab street was not hostile to the US. He also opined that the spike in Arab arms purchases from the US was indicative of the fact that the behavior of Arab regimes was compatible with US interests even if public attitude was consistently hostile.
Even though the WINEP study attempted to give the findings credibility through some fancy, but questionable statistics, it is essentially flawed. Since when has the Arab public been free to express its views and expectations? How can one study the relationship between the authoritarian regimes in the Arab world and the US and claim that their policies represent the aspirations of the Arab masses?
Most of the statistics produced by the report refer to ties between the illegitimate, unelected and authoritarian Arab regimes sustained in power primarily through US support. The author makes a false claim that it represents the people’s will. If sale of weapons or any other commodity to the Mubarak regime or the Saudi family has gone up, it is not indicative of improved relations with the Arab street since the rulers are completely detached from the masses.
Pollock's argument that only 3 million Arabs demonstrated against the US invasion of Iraq was challenged by Marc Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies. He correctly pointed out that this was a flawed assumption; very few people actually joined Martin Luther King for civil liberties during his march on Washington in 1963. This does not mean that the majority of US citizens were against the civil liberties movement.
The statistics and arguments from which such conclusions are drawn show that the neo-con policy “experts” are detached from reality in the Arab world. The fact that many Arabs buy US products does not mean that they also view US policies favorably.
Arab masses are often left with no choice but to buy US goods because their own industries are virtually non-existent due to the incompetence of their rulers and mismanagement of the country's resources. It is, however, hard to believe that those who produced the study were unaware of these basic facts. The WINEP study is primarily aimed at keeping the average US citizen in the dark, who is in any case not well informed about US standing in the region. Such studies aim to create support for US aggression in the Middle East by making ordinary average Americans believe that US presence in the Arab world is “welcomed.”
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