Annoyed by America : Conquering Iraq won't go down well
International Herald Tribune
January 23, 2003
Karim Raslan 

Resentment of American foreign policy extends in Southeast Asia well beyond the region's 250 million Muslims. Buddhist Thais and Catholic Filipinos as well as non-Muslim Indonesians and Malaysians are also increasingly disturbed, and at times angered, by the actions of the Bush administration since the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001.

Rina Jimenez-David, a columnist with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, says: "Americans treat us with disrespect and disdain. We are expected to throw our support behind the war on Iraq without any information or evidence." Pairat Pongpanit, foreign editor of Thai-language daily Matichon, concurs: "The United States is not regarded as a reliable patron or ally either politically or economically. There is increasing distrust and suspicion of American intentions."

Yet Southeast Asia is not steeped in a history of anti-Americanism. Unlike Latin America or the Middle East, the region has traditionally viewed America as an important bulwark against colonialism and Chinese-inspired Communism.

American business interests have long been welcomed. Exxon, Motorola, Intel, General Electric and many other U.S. investors are regarded as good corporate citizens and engines of prosperity.

Growing skepticism and dislike of U.S. foreign policy can be traced to back to the 1997 financial crisis in Asia. The currency devaluations were a salutary lesson for the "tiger" economies. As Southeast Asian bourses and exchange rates plummeted, America's lack of interest and unwillingness to intervene reminded the region's leaders that Washing-ton's support would be forthcoming only if vital U.S. interests were thought to be in jeopardy.

The lack of American support when the crisis first erupted appeared to signal that while Russia and Mexico were geopolitically important, longtime allies like the Philippines and Thailand were not.

Simmering anti-Americanism since then has been exacerbated by the war on terror. Of course, Muslims are the most aggrieved — although it would be unwise for America to underestimate the resentment lurking elsewhere in the region.

Muslim animosity is attributable to four inter-locking factors.

There is anger at U.S. partisanship and bias in handling of the face-off between Israelis and Palestinians and the continuing illegal occupation by Israel of the West Bank and Gaza. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is described by President George W. Bush as "a man of peace," while the Palestinian Authority chairman, Yasser Arafat, is ostracized even as the Israeli military makes it impossible for him to govern.

Second, there is a perception of double standards in the treatment of Communist North Korea and predominantly Muslim Iraq. Washington is prepared to use dialogue to engage and disarm North Korea, a pariah nation with nuclear bombs, but war and regime change are threatened for Iraq.

Third, news reports about restrictions and controls on Muslim residents and visitors in the United States suggest that America is increasingly unwilling to host people from the Islamic world. Discriminatory practices are also affecting Southeast Asia's ethnic Chinese communities.

Slow and unnecessarily stringent visa processing of Indonesian and Malaysian citizens is preventing many non-Muslims, mainly Chinese, from pursuing higher education in the United States. Given the role of American-trained professionals in the region's economic growth, the lessening of people-to-people links will certainly have long-term negative consequences on relations between Southeast Asiaand the United States.

Fourth, Washington behaves as if sentiment were uniform across the Muslim world. Americans must learn more about the cultural differences between Southeast Asian, South Asian, Turkish and Middle Eastern Muslims. A recent U.S. government-sponsored advertising campaign featured countless Arab Muslims settled in America. Such undue emphasis on the Arab world dismays Southeast Asians.

But the main losers in the ongoing war on terror are the region's moderate Muslims. They include such leaders as Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia and Ahmad Syafii Maarif, head of Indonesia's 30-million-strong Islamic association Muhammadiyah. Both men have championed tolerance and pluralism against religious extremism, and so far with surprising effectiveness.

They must now worry that a U.S-led invasion of Iraq will galvanize radical and ultra-conservative forces among Southeast Asia's Muslims. Rizal Sukma, a Muhammadiyah Youth leader says: "An attack on Iraq would lend credibility and legitimacy to extremist groups. It gives them opportunity to regroup after the Bali bombing."

U.S. policymakers would be well advised to consider the downward trajectory of America's reputation in Southeast Asia. Admiration and respect for U.S. technological innovation, entrepreneurial zeal and cultural creativity remain undimmed. But it seems that enlightened self-interest has been replaced by naked self-interest.

Unilateral U.S. military might may destroy Iraq, but it will also cause long-term damage to America's moral authority and leadership.

The writer is a Malaysian lawyer and columnist.

[Not to be reproduced without the permission of the author.]

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