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Homework Help: Social Studies: World Issues: Conflicts in the Middle East
by Tyler Stigmier
Are Middle Eastern Conflicts Turning Into A World War?
When thinking about the Middle East a mere five years ago, some might have thought the conflicts were heated between Israel and the Palestinians. In the year 2001 that situation changed. After September 11th, 2001 many views on the Middle East were changed. Many people looked down on the Middle Eastern Terrorist and the opinion of Middle East terrorists became severely worse. After the World Trade Center was attacked, a program was put into action by President Bush to capture and assassinate Osama Bin Laden. Soon after the campaign against Bin Laden, Iraq was discovered as a harborer of Weapons of Mass Destruction. If things could not get worse the Israeli’s began a War on Terrorism as the United States had, except their victim was Yassir Arafat. As the election drew closer in Israel, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lost his sphere of influence in the Israeli Parliament. As a result Israel may have a tough time electing a new Prime Minister, unless Ariel Sharon can rally enough support for his party. Therefore due to the many conflicts in the Middle East relating to multiple incidents in the United States and other foreign countries, Middle Eastern skirmishes and battles will lead to many worldwide contradictions.
After the World Trade Center tragedy, multiple Middle Eastern beliefs were brought into light in the United States. Citizens soon discovered that teenagers in Afghanistan and other terrorist supporting countries were being taught to hate the United States. They were taught that the United States’ thoughts were against their country and that they should turn against them. Weapons were being distributed at a very young age and children were learning how to shoot and fight hand to hand. Also, many governmental agency’s such as the Taliban and the Palestinian Liberation Organization fund terrorism that affects everyone globally. With these funds the terrorist groups have the power to buy illegal weaponry. Leaders of these groups have enough money to buy Weapons of Mass Destruction such as, Nuclear Missiles and Biological Weaponry. If these governments are not stopped who is to say what will happen to the fate of the free world? Governments such as Iraq are also suspected of supplying and funding terrorist organizations, as well as violating treaty requirements.
Another issue with the Middle East that has occurred twice in the last twenty years is the Iraqi Missile Crisis. United States President George Bush claims that Iraq has Nuclear Missiles and Biological Weaponry. If they in fact do, they would be in violation of the Treaty agreements from the Persian Gulf War in the twentieth century. President Bush has demanded several times that the United Nations take action and force weapons inspectors into Iraq to solve this suspicion. If Iraq does not comply with U.N. regulations then an attack plan should be proposed by the United States. George Bush himself said that after the next United Nations resolution is passed, Iraq must comply within one week, or the United States will attack them. Recently the issue was passed but some countries were very hesitant to promote the resolution. France and Russia, who are on the Security Council, a group of countries designated in the United Nations to make decisions regarding international security, denied signing the resolution multiple times before accepting the terms of inspection. Russia and France were both extremely worried about oil and gas prices and how it would affect their economy if Iraq was attacked. The end of the week draws closer and nothing has been heard from Iraq quite yet. So far it has been a support race between the United States and Iraq. Iraq continues to rally the Middle Eastern forces in anticipation as the Bush Administration continues to rally forces at the United Nations.
Suicide Bombers in Israel have become such a problem that Ariel Sharon has ordered that the military begin a campaign against Yassir Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Israel has been very successful on many attempts to corner Yassir Arafat in order to force discussion about suicide bombers. When the Israeli troops had Arafat cornered in Ramallah on the West Bank, talks began about what Arafat would do about the suicide bombers, and how Israel would respond if the bombings stopped or slowed. Israel has been demanding that the suicide bombers be stopped and Yassir Arafat continues to deny the accusation that Palestinian suicide bombers are directly linked to his command of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Another situation that could lead to worldly conflicts is the fact that Ariel Sharon is losing the majority of the political support in the Israeli Parliament. Since there are multiple political parties in Israel, and not one or two dominant parties, major parties do not get enough votes to get a Prime Minister in power. In order to elect a Prime Minister a political party must get fifty percent of all votes or more. With so many parties the larger platforms must merge with smaller political parties to get someone elected. Since Ariel Sharon has started to lose power due to his order that Israeli troops should stop pursuing Yassir Arafat, electing a new Prime Minister will be very difficult for his country.
Many persons that are up to date with current events in the Middle East believe that attacking Iraq will not solve the problem concerning international security. One of the people that were surveyed brought up an interesting point. “Having spent time in the Far East, I realize that certain countries see diplomacy as weakness and only listen to strength” (Middle Eastern War Survey 15).
Many people think that our policies in the United Nations and our attitudes toward Middle Eastern and other countries seem to be working very well. On the other hand, six out of fifteen said they felt that United States actions so far have been either useless, or that President Bush sounds frantic in his accusations. The survey results have shown generally how the general public of the United States feels about the current situation the World is in.
Many foreign countries in Europe attack President Bush because they think that a World War will result from his accusations. “There is a firestorm coming, and it is being provoked my Mr. Bush” (Fisk 1). This opinion is from one reporter from the United Kingdom. He attacks President Bush by saying and quoting him from his conferences with the United Nations. “He’s a dictator who gassed his own people,” Mr. Bush reminded us for the two-thousandth time, omitting as always to mention that the Kurds whom Saddam viciously gassed were fighting for Iran and that the United States, at that time, was on Saddam’s side” (Fisk 1). He tries to get British citizens to see that President Bush may be wrong in his accusations and that he is trying to express concern for the wrong reasons.
Instead of directly attacking Iraq, many citizens of the United States believe we should take this one step at a time. Going to fast in a situation that has an unstable government, a nation with suspected illegal weaponry capable of mass destruction, terrorism, and suicide bombings would be extremely risky. One reporter believes that Israel would be crushed in the conflict. “If Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were to use his scheduled meeting with President George W. Bush, Jr., as a license to unleash new levels of warfare in the Middle East, the virtually inevitable outcome would be the ultimate extinction of the state of Israel” (LaRouche, Jr. 1). LaRouch believes that an outcome of even a light skirmish of a war in the Middle East would result in the termination of the state of Israel. Another Middle East writer talks about how Jerusalem is the burdensome stone for Middle Eastern Conflicts. “Egypts President Hosni Mubarak warned Satruday that a compromise over Jerusalme would lead to uncontrollable violence in the Middle East and said no Arab or Muslim can relinquish rights to east Jerusalem and its holy sites” (Farah 2). Egypt’s President seems to believe that Jerusalem is the missing piece for peace in Israel and its holy communities. “The stumbling block to peace in the Middle East has been, is and will remain the fate of Jerusalem. The Jews will never give it up without a fight and neither will the Arabs” (Farah 2). Joseph Farah seems to think that Middle Eastern conflicts will never subside so long as Jerusalem is occupied by both Israeli’s and Arabs.
The United States realizes the state of tension this world is in right now. We are interested in International Security in our country and most of all the countries surrounding Iraq due to accusations of the production and storage of illegal weaponry. Taking a situation lightly where several countries safety is involved would not be in the best interest of any country. Without resolutions of the Iraqi Missile Crisis, and the election of a new Prime Minister for Israel, the state of turmoil seems to continue to build in the Middle East, further extending its involvement with other countries. If certain discrepancies are not resolved in these countries, there is a possibility of going to war.
Works Cited
1. Farah, Joseph “Jerusalem: The burdensome stone” The Israel Report August/September 2000:2
2. Fisk, Robert “There is a Firestorm Coming, and it is being provoked by Mr. Bush”
Common Dreams News Center Saturday May 25, 2002:1-2
3. LaRouche, Lyndon H. “Why Israel Would Now Lose A New Middle East War” Executive Intelligence Review July 6, 2001
4. Stiegemeier, Tyler ., comp. Is the Middle Eastern War Turning into a World War? Hudson, OH 2002:1-15
Homework Help: Social Studies: World Issues
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