MIDDLE EAST
"The Middle Eastern states aren't nations, they're quarrels with borders." (P.J. O'Rourke)

    Once upon a time, the Middle East, or "Near East" (as some historians like to call it), was the commercial and intellectual bridge between Europe and Asia.  It was one of the most cosmopolitan places on Earth, and the birthplace of alphabets, law, commerce, and religions.  The Babylonians and Egyptians were two of the earliest civilizations on Earth.  The Persians (Iranians) came to power in the region around 500 BC until Alexander the Great conquered the area, and then the Roman Empire took control, calling the area its Byzantine (Eastern) Holy Roman Empire  The rise of Islam in 510 AD brought Arab rule and two great dynasties of the Muslim Empire (the period of the Umayyads and Emayyads), which lasted until about 1520 while the area became a battlefield between the Ottoman Empire (Turks), European crusaders, and Arab Muslims, the Ottoman Empire lasting up to 1918.  Britain and France fought colonial wars in the area from about 1880 until 1918, and after WWI, Britain and France divided up the region between themselves.  Following WWII, colonialism by the world powers was less blatant and more a pattern of multinational or covert involvement.  Israel was founded in 1948, for example, by a combination of U.N. approval for a partitioning of Palestine and Israeli militia (Haganah, Irgun, and Stern Gang) campaigns which induced Palestinians to leave the area that is now Israel.

    Economically, the most important resource in the region has been oil.  The Middle East lacked rivers, most transportation was by camel, and railways were not built until fairly late in the twentieth century.  American and European investment companies (like Standard, Texaco, and Shell) exploited the region with monopolies.  The foreign-owned monopolies came to a halt with OPEC in 1971 when several Arab states decided to take matters into their own hands and forced an oil crisis in the mid-1970s.  By 1979, and centered in Iran, an Islamic revolution swept the land, and theocratic regimes as well as strict Islamic law became popular.  Other states held onto their monarchies, and still others kept a military dictatorship form of government.  Lack of effective political leadership has kept the area an isolated, backward region.  Every year, the violence seems to get worse.  Military operations regularly claim civilian lives, and dictatorship oppression seems to be the norm.  Israeli occupation of Palestine tends to produce the most tension.  There is enormous support worldwide for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland.

Geographically, the Middle East includes the Asian portion of Turkey, the island of Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. The area is not completely settled politically, and 15 nation-states co-exist in the geographic land bridge region, with 5 more in the northeastern Africa area.  Palestine (named for an ancient coastal people called the Philistines) has never had any precisely defined borders, and in Biblical days was the site of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah; in Roman days was the westernmost province of Syria; in Ottoman days was the Gaza Strip and parts of Lebanon; in the WWI era was part of Jordan (the British Mandate referred to it as Trans-Jordan); and today refers to the PLO claim on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (occupied by Israel).  Israel also occupies the Golan Heights, another area with a long, contested history and the only source of water in the area, which is contested by Syria and Lebanon.  The Gaza Strip consists primarily of refugees and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with +60% of the people living below the poverty line.  Israel controls all electricity in the Gaza Strip, and the Palestine Authority controls telephone and TV.

    The conflict between the Jews of Israel and the Muslim and Christian Palestinians remains at the center of Middle East conflict. Peace talks brought Egypt and Jordan into peace treaties with Israel, but violent eruptions and difficult diplomatic questions, including Palestinian statehood, ownership of Jerusalem and the fate of Jewish settlements built on formerly Arab land, continue to prevent a solution. Many Arabs continue to seek Israel’s complete annihilation, and many Israelis reject further compromise with Arab demands. U.S. military and economic aid to Israel (totaling $3 billion a year plus an additional $1 billion thru philanthropy) is construed widely in the Islamic world as a blind bias in favor of the Jewish state. Israel remains in a technical state of war with most of the Arab world, particularly its neighbors Syria and Lebanon.

    Muslim fundamentalism, or the Islamist movement, is rampant throughout the Middle East.  It has always existed in the form of ancient Persian ideology, but came to the forefront with the Iranian Shiite revolution from 1973-1979.  The whole problem stems from the fact that when Prophet Muhammad died in 632 A.D., he left no successor.  His last words were "whomever I am the leader, Ali is the leader."  Some thought this meant one of his followers, Ali, and this group became known as Shi'at-ul-Ali, later known as the Shiite Muslims.  They are the minority in the Arab world.  Most people thought he meant the decision was left to the community to pick a leader.  These people came to be known as the Sunni Muslims, and they are the majority in the Arab world. 

    Arab countries still practice a tribal pattern of governance that dates back to Muhammad's time in Saudi Arabia.  It's known as the caliph-sultan-omar system, and requires a specialized group of jurists, or legal scholars, to interpret divine readings and lend legitimacy to a sultan or omar who then delegates day-to-day administrative duties to a caliph.  The sultan swears allegiance to the caliph, and the caliph then approves the sultan's appointment.  The idea of a nation-state is somewhat foreign to Muslim thought.  They believe that Islam is universal, and recognize few borders.  The 57 nations that make up the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have gone on record saying there's no such thing as separation of church and state in a Muslim country.  The fundamentalist position is a belief in the sacred mission of Islam to rule the world by use of the sword if necessary.  Another group accepts cohabitation with other religions as long as Islam is the world's pre-eminent religion.  A third group, the moderates, advocates co-existence primarily because of the economic benefits it brings. 

ALGERIA
    This country (also discussed in the Africa lecture) has historically been the home of pirates, and the population consists of a strange mixture of coastal metropolitans and rural nomadic tribes.  It is a long-established oil-producing state and a member of OPEC (95% of its exports are oil, and the nation's oil reserves are still largely unexplored). After freeing itself from French colonial rule during the 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence under the guise of a socialist revolution headed by the FLN, it declared itself 99% Sunni Muslim, and has been a seedbed of Islamic radicalism ever since, most notably at the hands of the outlaw Islamic political party known as FIS.  The Algerian model of anti-colonialist terrorism has been emulated by many terrorist groups worldwide, particularly Palestinian terrorist groups.  To this day, the country suffers from an endless cycle of violence which impedes efforts to introduce democracy.

    Algerian terrorism tends to export easily.  For example, in 1994, Algerian terrorists tried to hijack a plane and fly it into the Eiffel Tower.  The most virulent group, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), has been linked to plots against the U.S.  Algerian terrorist cells are believed to be active in Canada, the United States, and throughout Europe.  Several Algerian terrorists have been captured with links to al-Qaeda, planning attacks on major sporting events or U.S. airports.  The U.S. has been trying to improve diplomatic relations with Algeria for years, and the country is heavily burdened with foreign debt.  Although 99% Islamic, the country is unique in that women have the right to vote.  Arabic and French are both spoken there.  However, the nation is filled with Islamic fundamentalists who don't think the country is fundamentalist enough.  Anti-U.S. Algerian extremists operate abroad as international fugitives.  American targets have included the Los Angeles airport in 1999, which was thwarted by U.S. intelligence.  The main Algerian terrorist group that the U.S. has to worry about is the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) which has the strongest al-Qaeda links and global reach.  The Jamestown Foundation dossier on GSPC says that this group regards jihad against the U.S. as a continuation of the war of independence against colonial powers with the U.S. perceived as the "great tyrant."  America's worst enemy, al-Qaeda, regularly praises GSPC in its media propaganda.   

ISRAEL
    One might characterize this country as a somewhat flawed experiment in democracy that has grown into a modern marvel of a super-security state.  Israel has always enjoyed a close relationship with U.S. intelligence and defense agencies.  The intelligence connection traces back to James Angleton, head of OSS-CIA counterintelligence from 1943-1975 and a legend (Code names: Mother, Gray Ghost, Virginia Slim).  He was influential in developing a close relationship with Israel’s Shin Bet and Mossad.  Israel has always been able to defend itself by effective intelligence-gathering and preemptive strikes.  Prior to the birth of the Israeli nation, Jewish commandos were trained in British-occupied Palestine. This underground Jewish army had an intelligence branch called Shai (for Sherut Yediot – information service), Israel’s first intelligence agency, lasting until 1948 until the establishment of a military intelligence service (Aman – Agaf Modi’in – information wing), and a domestic security service (Shin Bet – Sherut Habitachon Haklali – general security service). In 1951, the Mossad was created, modeled almost exactly after the CIA. The Shai provided warning intelligence, the Aman military intelligence, and Shin Bet civilian intelligence. The Mossad, along with the Israeli Defense Force, conduct identity checks and surveillance on suspected terrorists as well as track spies and infiltrators. They regularly conduct assassinations (targeted killings) on terrorist leaders, and are known to use sophisticated methods of interrogation.  Shin Bet took responsibility for the failure to prevent the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin.  The Mossad has captured Nazi war criminals hiding in Argentina. The most famous Israeli exploit was a 1976 raid on the airport at Entebbe, Uganda, known as Operation Thunderbolt. Palestinian skyjackers were hit by a Mossad-led strike team which freed all but four of the 97 hostages.

    U.S.-Israeli relations are generally good, but there are times when the relationship is strained.  Numerous treaties and laws exist which bind the two countries together, such as the 1998 Wye Agreement, which ensures a certain amount of three-way intelligence sharing (with the Palestine side as a partner).  However, sometimes Israeli intelligence goes too far and targets American interests, such as with the Jonathan Jay Pollard incident and a late-1990s suspicion that Mossad has a mole, code-named "Mega," in the White House.  Numerous conspiracies abound about U.S.-Israeli matters.  For example, Gordon’s (1999) book suggests that the Israelis were long blackmailing President Clinton with tapes of his steamy affair with Monica Lewinsky. 

    Israel has traditionally attempted to keep terrorists out of its main areas by maintaining client states in border regions. This has the effect of isolating and concentrating terrorists, and the most well-known region is the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley, home of many terrorist groups. In order to obtain better intelligence, the Israelis have special long-range patrol units composed of volunteers from various Lebanese factions. Israel and Syria regularly hold talks about peace agreements, and Palestinian leaders regularly press for more Palestinian-controlled areas as well as the ultimate of a future Palestinian state, and the status of Jerusalem, which many sides claim as a capital.  In 2003, Israel started bombing suspected terrorist camps in Syria. 

    Most nations in the Middle East have to deal with a refugee problem that runs in the millions. The most refugees consist of Palestinians, Kurds, and Iraqis. Refugee problems also exist in Kuwait and Bahrain. Many Iraqis flee to Jordan which makes them vulnerable to Jordanian intelligence services or involuntary return to Iraq. Refugees fleeing to Turkey are sent back. Iran hosts an extremely large number of Iraqi as well as Afghani refugees. Egypt has a number of Sudanese refugees on their hands.  Israel sometimes accepts refugees.

    Criminal justice systems in the Middle East leave much to be desired. Israeli criminal justice tends to evolve in the opposite direction of Western justice, for example (Friedmann 1998).  Most middle eastern nations have no independent judiciary or bicameral parliament. Independent newspapers and magazines are virtually non-existent, and journalists are often harassed, arrested, or imprisoned. Intellectuals are persecuted as freedom of expression is restricted, even in university systems. In Muslim fundamentalist states like Iran revolutionary courts and special clergy courts are regularly used to deliver verdicts against protesters and reformers. Comprehensive international economic sanctions in place on Iraq have led to extreme hardships for the people there. Workers are ruthlessly exploited by employers in the Middle East, and women ordinarily don't have the right to work. Child labor is allowed, however, as a form of repaying debt. Only Morocco, Kuwait, and Jordan have participated in the Rome Treaty for the establishment of an International Criminal Court. 

EGYPT
    This country has the largest population of any in the Arab world (71 million), and the capital city of Cairo is probably the most westernized.  The country is 94% Muslim (Sunni), and only 3% of the land is arable to grow any crops.  It relies upon rapidly-depleting oil and natural gas reserves, tourism dollars, and is of strategic importance as operator of the Suez Canal.  It is a military state with a strong warrior tradition, the strongest leader being Gamal Abdel Nassar, who nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956 via the Suez Crisis and promoted pan-Arabism ("Nasserism") in the Middle East based on hostility towards Israel and the West.  Both Nassar and subsequent ruler, Anwar Sadat, tried for many years to crack down on Muslim extremism (it was Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood got started in 1928) until Sadat's assassination in 1981 by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, sometimes called Islamic Jihad, IJ, or IJO).  It appears that sometime during the Sadat regime, Egypt became more of a breeding ground for terrorism.  Sadat was succeeded by Hosni Mubarik who has flip-flopped to some degree on his relations with the U.S. - having supported the first Gulf War, but not the Invasion of Iraq.  Egypt itself has been a victim of terrorism for years, but only recently has started exporting it. 

    Previously unknown groups tend to emerge from Egypt, such as al-Wa’ad (The Promise) which were rounded up in 2001 by Egyptian officials and accused them of planning to assassinate key figures and blow up strategic targets.  Well-known groups such as al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (IG) have long operated in Egypt by targeting police and tourists, but in recent years have had a reversal of ideology and renounced violence (see MEMRI article on Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya Cessation of Violence: An Ideological Reversal).  Egypt’s many terrorist organizations have suffered setbacks following 9/11.  Some Egyptian terrorists captured by the U.S. have been sent back to Egypt for trial.  Egypt itself sometimes imprisons them for a long time, or releases them on the promise they will do no more violence.  Egypt's publishing industry promotes books by terrorists.  For example, fugitive IG leader Rifa’i Ahmad Taha Musa published a book which justifies mass civilian casualties.  The culture and lifestyle of most Egyptians is quite stressful.  Destruction of Egypt’s lucrative tourist industry has been a major objective of domestic terrorists there while exiled Egyptian terrorists (like Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri) carry out international terrorism abroad.  Some of the strongest anti-Americanism in the Arab world can be found in Egypt. There is a tendency among intelligence analysts to over-count the number of terrorist groups in Egypt when there are actually only a small number of loosely-connected, shadowy groups.     

IRAN
    Persia is the old British name for Iran, derived from the greek "Persis" as cited by Herodot, meaning land of the Pars (an allegedly Siberian tribe who allegedly settled in south central Iran where the state of Fars is right now).  The suffix -ia in latin (which is derived from arabic) is the equivalent of -stan in Farsi, denoting the homeland of whomever's name appears before the suffix.  Iran is a multi-tribal nation, no more Fars than Arab.  Reza Khan officially named the land Iran which literally means the land of the Arian (Aryan), but many conquests later, it appears that the mythical Aryans never existed.  From 1925-1979, Iran was predominantly Western friendly, being ruled by Shah Pahlavi, a close friend of the U.S. and U.K. (some would say a puppet dictator).  The Shah modernized the country but crushed civil liberties.  Khomeini's overthrow of him in 1979 and the Islamic revolution brought Twelver Shiism back into fashion, referring to the twelve descendents of Muhammad's cousin Ali, and the need for theocratic (mullahocratic) rule by Imans, who are believed to be descendants of Ali.  The country plunged into extremism with the Shah's exile and American hostage crisis.  It then fought a war with Iraq from 1980 to 1989 that ended in stalemate, and has since been expressing its lack of fondness for the Saudi Sunni Muslim regime as well as its rampant anti-Americanism.  Within the countryside of Iran are plenty of places that provide safe havens for exiled opposition and terrorist groups.  Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blog provides interesting insights into Iranian anti-Americanism.

    Iran has for years provided clandestine arms support for numerous terrorist groups, particularly the Hezbollah terrorist group which operates in Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere to the tune of $20-100 million per year, much of it through bogus religious charitable organizations.  Islamic Jihad and Hamas are other groups supported, but the way Iran exports well-trained Hezbollah units practically defines the concept of state-sponsored terrorism.  The size and extent of Hezbollah's capabilities are widely speculated upon.  Hezbollah's most infamous operative, Imad Mugniyah, still ranks near the top of the world's most-wanted terrorists.  He is considered a terrorist even by some countries who do not consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.  Hezbollah's most famous terrorist attacks include the 1983 US Embassy bombing and the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.  Iran supports terrorism across the board, and at the extreme end, has a special interest in weapons of mass destruction.  They already have the most sophisticated missiles of any Arab country (the Shahab-3), which have an 800-mile range, and the conservative mullahs who run the country frequently make references to blowing Israel off the map with nuclear weapons.  Since 2004, Iran has aggressively pursued development of nuclear weapons.

    Iran's anti-Americanism is probably best understood as fear of a US invasion.  The main Iranian organization for this is known as the Qods Force, an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC aka Revolutionary Guards) which is long experienced in meddling in the affairs of other nations on behalf of Iran.  Qods Force was founded in 1990 and reports directly to the Supreme Leader.  It is believed to be the umbrella organization for almost all the shadowy Iranian-supported terrorist cells around the world, including within the U.S.  Back when Qods Force was was called the Lebanon Corps, it was responsible for the 1983 US Marine Barracks attack in Beirut.  The Qods Force is believed to have provided escape and safe passage to the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fleeing Afghanistan after the US invasion there.  In Iraq, the Qods Force provides training and millions of dollars of financial support to two main groups:  Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army; and Ansar al-Islam.  The Mahdi Army is a well-armed Shiite militia group that attempts to control all of Iraq through intimidation, and it is considered the most dangerous terrorist organization in Iraq, even more dangerous than Al-Qaeda.  Ansar al-Islam is a Kurdish Sunni group of Saddam Loyalists who operate on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, their job being to provide a porous border so that Iran can send terrorists into Iraq.  The Qods Force also supports roving bands of Shia death squads within Iraq.  Ironically, the main enemies of the Qods Force are a dissident Iranian guerilla group operating out of Iraq known as The People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI aka Mojahedin-e-Khalq or MEK) which is technically designated a terrorist organization but has cooperated with the U.S. in recent years.             

IRAQ
    This country shares a border with Turkey, which is populated by Kurdish minority groups and contains the Tigris River, which flows into Iraq and is the site of controversial Turkish hydro-electric projects. The border once served as the main pipeline route for delivering Iraqi oil to Europe, but NATO member Turkey shut the pipeline down after Iraq’s Kuwait invasion, and remnants of the pipeline have been destroyed by bombing.  Turkey has crossed into northern Iraq on several occasions to pursue Kurdish (PKK) rebels who have called themselves Kongra-Gel since 2003. Turkey fears the well-armed Kurds of northern Iraq, and there are various Kurdish militias in northern Iraq, including another one which has fought side-by-side with U.S. troops called the Peshmerga.   

    Iraq is a nation of tribes that exist on top of ethnic (Kurd/Arab) and religious (Sunni/Shiite/secular) divisions. There are about 150 major tribes, containing about 2,000 smaller clans. Most major tribes have kinsmen in Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the other Persian Gulf states and Turkey.  Only about 30 tribes play any significant political role, particularly Saddam Hussein's tribe, the Tikritis.  Saddam's Baath Party came to power in 1968 as a secular movement which considered the tribes outdated, but in the 1980s with the war against Iran, Saddam needed the tribes and courted their favors. After the Kuwait war in 1991, Saddam reached out again to tribal leaders, giving them cash, cars, arms, schools and other bounty to assure their loyalty. Although their loyalties can switch overnight, Iraqi tribal leaders are not impoverished, and their strength is great. The US has worked at every level, overt and covert, to infiltrate, isolate, impoverish and influence Iraq, to diminish or overthrow the regime, finally culminating in a U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  With ongoing re-building efforts, the U.S. hopes to make Iraq a shining example of democracy in the Middle East.

    There are about 50 different Iraqi insurgency groups (see Wikipedia Table at this link; GlobalSecurity's list; or Who Are the Insurgents), with membership estimated to be about 163,300 (see How Big is the Insurgency), and with about a dozen or so being major guerilla groups, the rest being distinctive, smaller cell-based groups.  Nonviolent resistance groups and political parties are not technically counted as part of the insurgency, but militias are, and most militias are funding by foreign powers.  The main insurgent target of the US has been al-Qaeda in Iraq, a group once headed by al-Zarqawi, but now headed by elusive Abu Ayyub al-Masri (aka Abu Hamza al-Muhajer) who had a bounty on his head even before he replaced Zarqawi. 

JORDAN
    Jordan was run for many years by the late King Hussein, who almost lost his throne in 1970 (Black September) when he appeased the Palestinian Liberation Organization and allowed Palestinian paramilitaries to take over the capital city of Amman while the army was ordered to stay out of town. 60% of the 5 million population are Palestinians who hold Jordanian nationality.  In the eight-day civil war of 1970, King Hussein prevailed and Yasser Arafat escaped to Lebanon disguised as a woman.  King Abdullah, who rules the country now, manages a tense situation involving close ties to the United States and a population and military who might rise up against him.

    Jordan has mostly been a moderating force in the region, and Jordanian authorities have foiled numerous attempts by militants to infiltrate Israel from Jordan.  Jordanian authorities have also retrieved various weapons caches concealed along the Jordanian-Iraqi border after having been smuggled from Lebanon.  Jordanian intelligence closely monitors HAMAS and other terror groups.  When Jordan itself spawns terrorist groups, they usually have short-lived lifespans and exotic names like The Honest People of Jordan, The Nobles of Jordan, and Holy Warriors for Ahmad Daqamseh.  In most cases, these are individuals with a gang or crew.  International terrorists often use, exploit, or claim Jordanian citizenship, or dual citizenship, both Jordanian and some other country.

LEBANON
    This country tends to be a place where random acts of violence occur, but is nonetheless a parliamentary democracy with an elected president and a constitution.  Lebanese politics is quite complex, with Christian parties, Muslim parties, and Socialist (Druze) parties, to name a few.  No fewer than nine political parties were involved in the series of demonstrations, bombings, and assassinations in early 2005, called the Cedar Revolution, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian troups who had been there since 1976.  Hezbollah is a political party in Lebanon, and several other organizations operate there to establish a respectable presence, including the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), the Palestine Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and several other extremist organizations.  The civilian arm of Hezbollah maintains hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other good projects, and the militant arm of Hezbollah is primarily active in the Bekaa Valley, a region east of Beirut and bordering with Syria, who maintains a strong military presence there (see map).

Lebanon, and especially the Bekaa Valley, is a good place for terrorists to hide, since Lebanese law (based on Napoleonic Code) prohibits the extradition of fugitives, and the government does not take adequate steps to pursue cases in Lebanese courts, often claiming the individuals are not in Lebanon or that it does not know their whereabouts.  The Lebanese government also disagrees with U.S.-related definitions of terrorism, and is perhaps the world's foremost advocate of "freedom fighting" as a term describing terrorism.  The presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon is a matter of controversy.  Syria maintains about 16,000 troops in the Bekaa Valley, and Syria's troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and the Ta'if Accord.  Syria justifies its continued military presence by saying it is at Lebanon's request and for its own protection.  The Bekaa Valley is a mysterious place regarded as a "Land of the Gods" with ancient Roman temples, pyramids, and Noah's tomb.  It is also a beautiful, fertile area that once housed the vacation homes of wealthy Arabs.  Much of it is bombed out nowadays, consisting of ghost towns and a surplus of posters and billboards praising the cause of freedom fighting (terrorism) around the world.

PALESTINE
    Technically, a country within a country (Israel), Palestine consists mainly of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, although in some quarters the word "Palestine" refers to anyone anyplace who identifies with the Palestinian cause.  It was ruled for many years by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yassar Arafat, who exercised lax management, but occasionally made arrests of some activists.  Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) attacks against Israel are similar to those of Hamas, and include car bombings, shooting attacks, and suicide bombings. In general, PIJ operations are significantly less lethal than those of Hamas, the latter being more supportive of al-Qaeda.  The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has recently raised its profile, and despite a lot of morphing in ideology over the years, the PFLP has always been a Marxist-oriented, Che-worshipping group.  Another group, the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) seems to be decreasing in profile, probably because it's hard to outdo itself given its reputation for spectacular things like hangglider shooting attacks and massive smuggling operations.  Some experts say the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is the most dangerous, however, since they are comprised of younger members and have the Yassar Arafat pedigree.  

TURKEY
    Turkey has been suffering from terrorism for at least 50 years, and regular emergency conditions in that country have prevented it from flowering as the parliamentary democracy it should be.  They were the first country in the Middle East to recognize the importance of an independent judiciary and secularized Islam.  Turkey is 98% Muslim (predominantly Sunni), but also has a large Kurdish minority (20%), found primarily in the southeast along the Iraqi and Syrian borders.  Shi'a Muslims, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants can also be found in Turkey.  The Kurds are not really a religious group, but an ethnic group -- the largest ethnic group in the world without a state.  A bloody insurgency has long raged since the 1970s along the Iraq/Turkey border involving the leftist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which since 2003 has called itself Kongra-Gel.  Brutality has been common on both sides. Turkey largely defeated the PKK in the late 1990s, but guerrillas continue to infiltrate the country from the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq, and much PKK/Kongra-Gel activity also involves drug smuggling. As NATO’s only Muslim state, Turkey often finds itself isolated in the Islamic world.  It is usually on good relations with Israel and the United States.  Another major terrorist group operating in Turkey is the Turkish Hezbollah (no relation to the Hezbollah in Lebanon), a group of Kurdish Sunni Muslims who attack businessmen, journalists, and policemen throughout the region.  Their trademark is burying their victims in cement, and their fundamentalism involves designating people as either good or evil.

SYRIA
    This is a police state dominated by a socialist, Ba'ath party, family dictatorship.  A Side-by-side Comparison of Iraq Baathism and Syrian Baathism shows some interesting similarities (for more, see Wikipedia Entry on Baathism).  However, the Asad regime in Syria once regarded Iraq's regime as an enemy and joined the 1991 Gulf War to help remove Iraqi troops from Kuwait.  However, Syria has since lost its taste for Western policies in the Middle East, and in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Syria took a number of hostile actions toward coalition forces, allowing military equipment and foreign fighters to flow across the border into Iraq.  While Syria in recent years has rhetorically tried to forge better ties to the West and even contemplated a peace treaty with Israel, it remains a catalyst for radical Islamic anger that threatens peace in the Middle East and thwarts any progress toward democracy.  Strongly supportive of the six anti-PLO Rejectionist Front groups (PFLP, ALF, As-Sa'iqa, Abu Nidal, PPSF, PFLP-GC, DFLP), Syria was a leader among the Arab states which attacked Israel upon its formation in 1948.  Rejecting "Palestinization" of the Israeli conflict, Syria continued to fight in each subsequent war, and literally occupied Lebanon from 1976-2005.  Israel's longer occupation of the Golan Heights, a piece of mountainous Syrian territory, has become the main focus of conflict between the two nations. Talks about the issue sometimes hold out the promise of a peace treaty, but political shifts are common in Syria, and relations with the U.S. are often strained.  Israel and the U.S. regard Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism for their support, along with Iran, of the three radical (anti-Oslo Accord) Palestinian groups (HAMAS, PFLP-GC, PIJ) as well as Hezbollah (which is used by Syria as a surrogate to force Israel out of the Golan Heights), but the group that Syria has controlled the most is As-Sa'iqa (also known colloquially as the "Eagles") who have been implicated in a number of terrorist incidents worldwide, including as far away as Austria.  Total count of the terrorist groups supported, minus overlap between anti-Oslo and anti-PLO categories, equals ten (10). 

    Syrian pursuit of weapons of mass destruction causes fear throughout the region, and this, along with the safehaven and material support for terrorist groups places them in conflict with most U.S. interests in the region.  However, the U.S. also recognizes some of the good that Syria has done in stabilizing Lebanon, and shortly after 9/11, Syria unexpectedly turned over some intelligence data to the U.S.  It is difficult to characterize this country in an unbiased fashion, but Prof. Landis at the Univ. of OK Syria-Islam page tries and maintains some good links for researching current events there.  

SAUDI ARABIA
    This country originated in a 1918 revolt carried out by a fundamentalist sheikh named Ibn Saud who exercised power in a part of the interior known as Arabia Deserta.  Today, the country is ruled by the many descendants of Ibn Saud, a 30,000-person royal family (al-Saud) which essentially dominates the OPEC oil cartel and has great influence in the Islamic world because of its stewardship of Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam. The current, de facto ruler is Crown Prince Abdullah.  In 1990, when Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait, it also massed troops along the Saudi border, suggesting the kingdom’s oil fields might be next. The U.S.-led coalition that defeated Iraq used Saudi Arabia as its main staging area and continues to fly ‘no-fly zone’ missions over southern Iraq from Saudi air bases. Friction between the two remains high, but devout Muslims resent any American presence in Saudi Arabia, the region, and support for Israel.  Extremism is growing.    

    Saudi Arabia sits on the world's largest supply of crude oil. During the 1973 oil crisis, they controlled 25% of oil consumed by Americans.  Today, that number is closer to 8%, and OPEC rate hikes of 70% or more are mainly a thing of the past.  In recent years, the Saudi economy hasn't been doing too well, as birth and poverty rates are increasing.  Saudi investment in American corporations is high, as is it's consumption of U.S. goods.  The Saudis tolerate a fundamentalist religious regime, Wahhabism, within the country.  Wahhabism is based on descendants of an 18th century cleric Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab, who was fanatically hostile toward any kind of modernization.  If Wahhabism had its way, daily life would be regulated by religious clerics, women would be forbidden to drive and/or wear female clothing, dancing and movies would be outlawed, men and women would not mix in public, and religious police would roam the shopping malls, telling stores to close if anything offensive is found, and ordering bystanders to report to a mosque.  There is an amount of anti-Americanism in the educational and religious institutions, as well as certain amounts of intolerance and dogma deeply rooted among the masses, but all fairness, it depends on which standards you apply.  Saudi Arabia is a complicated society.  Visit any one of the State Dept. Religious Freedom reports for attempts to apply standards, or visit CrossroadsArabia for more perspective.  Since 9/11, given that fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi Arabians, and the royal family has balked at US counterterrorism initiatives since then, speculation exists among many Americans about whether Saudi Arabia really supports the war on terror or is, perhaps, a financial supporter of terrorist groups under the guise of humanitarian aid (see A Second Look at the Saudis).  

YEMEN
    This country has long felt cornered by its larger and more prosperous neighbor to the north. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states were involved in the Yemeni civil war that raged for a decade until unification in 1989. Resentment still festers.  One sore point: Yemen sided with Iraq during the Gulf War.  Since then, Yemen has moderated a bit, but it remains a well-known base for extremism and terrorism, for which the excellent Yemen-dedicated blog, Armies of Liberation, is the finest source of information.  The bombing of the USS destroyer Cole in Aden harbor in 2000 should have driven home the Yemeni connections.  After Sept. 11, 2001, Yemen has renounced terrorism and cooperated with the U.S. a bit.  They have also tightened up their visa system, and attempted educational reform.  Nevertheless, several terrorist organizations maintain a presence in Yemen.   HAMAS and the Palestine Islamic Jihad maintain offices in Yemen legally.  Other international terrorist groups operating illegally in Yemen include al-Qaeda, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Libyan opposition groups, and the Algerian Armed Islamic Group.  Indigenous terrorist groups, like the Islamic Army of Aden, remain active in the country.

INTERNET RESOURCES
ABC International News
Articles and Reports about the Iraqi Insurgency
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
Carnegie Middle East
CIA World Factbook
Discrimination Against Arab Americans
Electronic Embassy
Foundation for Middle East Peace
Global Conflicts Overview
Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies
History of Babylonia
Library of Congress Country Studies
Middle East News Wire Online
Middle East Policy Council
MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies
Nationmaster Crime and Illicit Drug Database
OPEC Website
Research Guide to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
State Dept. Counterterrorism Office Area Overviews
State Department Travel Advisories
The Arab Gateway: News of the Arab World
Univ. of TX Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Last updated: Aug 24, 2008
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