420 • 21 THE WAR ON TERRORISMacademe, the US Congress, and the White House, as the national interest.
American policy formulation toward the Middle East has followed this
pattern. It is up to you to decide how well this process has served the na¬
tional interest.
The most probable attacker on that September morn was al-Qa'ida, a co¬
ordinating body for Muslim resistance movements operating in many
countries, headed by an exiled Saudi businessman named Osama bin
Laden. The dramatic attack, which achieved far more than he could have
expected, began as a hijacking operation by nineteen Arab militants. It took
2,750 lives, shattered the apathy of the American people, and focused the
world's attention on the terrorist threat. Within weeks, the United Nations
passed a resolution condemning terrorism, US President Bush declared war
against terror, his administration arrested and detained thousands of sus¬
pects, and US warplanes were bombing Afghanistan, which harbored bin
Laden and his training camps. An American-dominated coalition occupied
most of Afghanistan, ousted its Taliban-led government, and pursued al-
Qa'ida's fighters into the mountains near Pakistan.
Almost every government in the world, including those of the Middle
East, spoke out against the attack on America and terrorism generally. The
US response, one of repression at home and aggression in the Middle East,
gradually turned sympathetic support into antagonistic opposition be¬
tween September 2001 and April 2005, when we are writing these lines.
The key issue for many governments and their citizens was the unilateral
US attack on Iraq that began in March 2003, purportedly to rid the coun¬
try of its weapons of mass destruction and to topple Saddam Husayn's
dictatorial regime. The weapons have not been found, nor have "freedom"
and "democracy" been established in Iraq. The American occupation has
stirred up bitter resistance by both Sunni and Shi'i Muslim Iraqis, threat¬
ening a civil war in the country. It has also enabled al-Qa'ida to recruit
more anti-American fighters and volunteers for terrorist attacks. The Iraq
War probably will not end any time soon. Meanwhile, the occupation of
Afghanistan has not stabilized the country or weakened al-Qa'ida. More¬
over, the Arab-Israeli conflict still simmers, focused mainly on Palestinians
fighting against Israeli rule.
THE PRESENT IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVEAny historian who writes a textbook that includes the recent past walks on
eggs. Events occur suddenly in the Middle East. Projections are hazardous.
W^ho knows what a future reader will see as having been the major Middle