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Obama must change U.S. future anti-terrorism program

Politics Materials 5 February 2009 12:07 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 5/ Trend / Trend , U. Sadigova/

Experts say the United States must reconsider its future strategy on war on terrorism in the Middle East if newly-elected President Barack Obama wants to achieve success in relations with the Arab states.

Hamas Islamic resistance movement, who has ruled in the Palestinian parliament since 2006, figures in the U.S. list of terrorist organization, which includes 42 organizations.

Obama announced during his election campaign that he will pursue the same U.S. policy against terrorists in the Middle East, specifically n Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 "We can not condone with a world where extremists kill innocent people. We must use all our powers, not only military, but also diplomatic and political to fight these threats," Obama said in December in a press conference in Chicago after his election as president 

The new U.S. President did not make statements about Hamas who is at war with Israel. He refused to hold talks with movement's leaders who do not recognize Israel's right to existence.

It is early to speak about efficiency of Obama's future policy to exterminate terrorism in the Middle East as Obama did not make any statements about fight against terrorists, head of the United Kingdom anti-terrorism studies center Kamal Halbavi told Trend in a telephone conversation.

Robert Dreyfus, author of Devil's Game, a book about September 11th, 2001 acts of terrorism in the United States, says Obama will stop using the phrase "war on terror," which is provocative and counterproductive.
Obama has said that he will reach out to the Muslim world and try to repair some of the damage done during the Bush years, Dreyfus said to Trend by email.

Obama's predecessor George Bush launched war in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003 in a bid to destroy members of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

"The key threat which he [Obama] will have to handle as other presidents after him, is the threat of the attacks on the U.S.," Bush said in his farewell press conference in the White House.
Unlike Bush, Obama's balanced policy in the Middle East will have an impact on terrorism in that it will reduce some of the anger currently directed at the United States, Stewe Hewitt, lecturer in terrorism at University of Birmingham, said to Trend by email.
However, American expert on security policy Stephen Biddle believes that resolution of the Hamas-Israel conflict and internal problems will not have significant effect as there is no concrete plan against terrorism in the United States.

Arab states are less likely to act as a useful mediator in a war on terrorism as opinions of the Arab leaders on several issues regarding terrorist organizations do not coincide, Halbavi said.

The U.S. and Europe recognize Egyptian Muslim Brothers, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah as terrorist organizations despite their representatives hold political posts in their countries.

"Terrorism is vague concept or the Arab world," Halbavi said. "Arab countries do not precisely know what terrorism is."

The U.S. government needs to put an exact boundary between terrorist organizations and resistance forces as the latter protects independence of their country, Halbavi said.

"Hamas and resistance movement in Iraq are not terrorist organizations. The U.S. should differentiate between terrorists and resistance forces."

Besides Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Aqsa martyr's brigade, Mehdi army who resist Palestine's occupation by Israel and U.S. forces in Iraq have been recognized by the U.S. State Department as terrorist organizations.

Dreyfus says Obama will achieve success in a war on terrorism in the Middle East with the support of the Arab states if he keeps his promise to change policy on Muslim countries.

"It will depend on Obama keeping his commitment to withdraw from Iraq and his policy on the Israel-Palestine front," Dreyfus said.

Obama's policy in the Middle East can be an important first step in resolving some vexing conflicts, but it's only a first step and we must be careful to avoid undermining key efforts (such as stabilizing Iraq) in the process, Biddle said to Trend by email.

At the moment, the more real for the U.S. policy against terrorism remains reducing activity of terrorists, however it is early to speak about extermination of terrorism, British expert Hewitt said.
Terrorism is one of the ways of political struggle targeted at ruling power, government's officials and foreign civil servants. Terrorism is often referred to as "violence to frighten."
The fear of terror strengthened in the European countries and the United States after attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. The attack claimed 3,000 lives. Al-Qaeda terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack.
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