White House struggles to keep Arab and Muslim backing
The United States is struggling to maintain the backing of Arab and other Muslim states even as it warns that it may take its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan.
The airdrop of relief packages to the Afghan people is part of the effort. So are repeated assertions by President Bush and other senior officials that the fight is with terrorists, not Islam.
In alerting the world the attack had begun, President Bush said: ‘‘The United States of America is a friend to the Afghan people, and we are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who practice the Islamic faith.’’
The warning the fight may go beyond Afghanistan was contained in a letter to the United Nations.
‘‘We may find that our self-defence requires further actions with respect to other organisations and other states,’’ John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations said today.
It was only the latest such warning. ‘‘The letter states what the president has been saying all along, that the United States reserves the right to defend itself wherever it is necessary,’’ White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
By all accounts, the al-Qaida network headed by Osama bin Laden has cells in several nations, most of them predominantly Muslim. Bush has told these governments they must choose between supporting the fight against terrorism and US hostility.
In Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan and is vital to the US. military operation, protesters have clamoured against the United States and the cooperation of their government, headed by President Pervez Musharraf.
Other Muslim nations, including Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, also have leading roles.
To help Musharraf, the administration and Congress have worked together to lift almost all sanctions against Pakistan. A move to end the remaining ones is near completion on Capitol Hill.
Bush has approved £220 million in humanitarian aid to the Afghans. A senior US official said today that Pakistan could expect additional support as it copes with a flood of refugees.
Despite the concerted American effort, Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland professor, said: ‘‘There are people in the Arab and Muslim world who simply will not be satisfied by what the United States will do. There is a lot of sentiment built up over the years. Clearly, the United States is not trusted.’’
But there are people throughout the region, including governments, who are so frightened by the prospect of having groups linked to bin Laden dominate the Middle East that they are looking for an opportunity and a reason to stand up to their extremists, Telhami said.
‘‘I think the US can help in that way, not only by differentiating between the terrorists and the Islamic world and by responding to humanitarian needs, but by providing an argument the moderates can use in their confrontation with extremists,’’ Telhami said.
Extremists pose an even greater threat to Arab regimes than they do to the United States, said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
‘‘Anything the United States can do to address that threat can only bolster regional stability,’’ Satloff said.
The logical next step of the campaign would be to go after Hezbollah, the Palestinian group cited again last week by the State Department as a terrorist organization, he said.
Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other group other than al-Qaida, he said.
