Bush and Blair have already lost the talking war across
the Middle East
By Robert Fisk
Messrs Bush and Blair may tell the
world they are going to win the "war against terrorism" but in the
Middle
East, where Osama bin
Laden is acquiring almost mythic status among Arabs, they have already
lost.
Whether it be a Lebanese minister, a Saudi journalist,
a Jordanian bank clerk or an Egyptian resident, the response is always the
same: Mr bin Laden's voice, repeatedly beamed into millions of homes,
articulates the demands and grievances - and fury - of Middle East Muslims who
have seen their pro-Western presidents and kings and princes wriggling out of
any serious criticism of the Anglo-American bombardment of
Afghanistan.
Viewing Mr bin Laden's latest video tape, Western
nations concentrated (if they listened at all) on his remarks about the
atrocities in the United States. If he expressed his approval, though denied
any personal responsibility, didn't this mean that he was really behind the
mass slaughter of 11 September?
Arabs listened with different ears. They heard a voice
which accused the West of double standards and "arrogance'' towards the Middle
East, a voice which addressed the central issue in the lives of so many Arabs:
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the continuation of Israeli
occupation.
Now, as a long-time resident of
Cairo put it yesterday, Arabs believe
America "is trying to
kill the one man ready to tell the truth''.
Arab civilians, usually uneasy
about identifying themselves when their views conflict with their government,
are now speaking more freely about their anger. "They say their target is bin
Laden,'' Samar al-Naji said in Jordan. "Then they strike at innocent people in
Afghanistan who have nothing to do with
terrorism. "They strike Muslims while ignoring the acts of Israel, the
terrorist state which is demolishing Palestinian homes and killing women and
children.'' Mr al-Naji is only a bank clerk, at 29 hardly a seasoned
politician.
At the Ain Shams University in
Cairo, prayers were performed for the dead of Afghanistan and in the Nile delta town of
Zagazig, students went to the heart of the problem in all pro-Western Arab
regimes. "Our rulers, why are you silent?'' they chanted. "Have you got orders
from America?'' This is rubbish, of course. Rulers of what we like to call
"moderate" Arab states don't need orders to give their discreet support to the
West. And Mr bin Laden is, after all, calling for their own
overthrow.
Only in the freer Arab countries could ministers speak
their minds. The Lebanese information minister, Ghazi Aridi, regards Mr bin
Laden's video tape as "a stroke of intelligence''. There was, he said, "an
international incitement against one person. If he is killed, he will become a
symbol and if he survives he will become a stronger
symbol.''
In the Gulf, feelings are very fragile. "Look, I know
old women who are staying up late at night to say prayers for Mr bin Laden,''
a Saudi journalist says. "His appearance on television was very good public
relations for him, especially when he talked about Palestine. In public,
people don't praise him; there has been no comment in the mosques. But in
private, they are all talking about him.''
A Saudi editor, Jamal Kashoggi, insisted that many
Saudis were far more critical of Mr bin Laden - believing that he is defaming
Islam - and ready to see a less pessimistic outcome in Afghanistan. "Kandahar
contains supporters of the monarchy as well as the Taliban,'' he said.
"Afghans who were disappointed by the anti-Russian mujahedin and turned to the
Taliban are now disappointed with the Taliban and may accept a royalist
comeback.'' But this, a view that would most certainly coincide with Saudi
Arabia's own royal family, may be a minority one.
In countries which have been afflicted by a
"terrorism'' far greater in suffering and death than the crimes against
humanity in New York and Washington, the very language used by President Bush
has been a cause for great anger.
"I'm sick of hearing about terrorism, terrorism,
terrorism,'' a prominent Lebanese construction manager shouted at me. "When
you have enemies, they are 'terrorists' or 'madmen' or 'evildoers'. When we
have enemies, we are asked to compromise with them. You have bin Laden. We
have Sharon - who is your friend and whose hand Mr Bush
shakes".
Many Lebanese believe that Israel's Prime Minister,
Ariel Sharon, should be indicted as a war criminal for his role in the Sabra
and Chatila Palestinian camps massacre of 1982, in which up to 1,800 civilians
- almost half the number of victims slaughtered in America on 11 September -
were killed in three days by Israel's Christian militia allies while Israel's
army watched from the camp
perimeters.