OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
OPEC is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. It’s goal is to coordinate petroleum (what we use for gas for our cars) policies and prices.
In 1973, OPEC, plus Egypt and Syria, announced there would be no oil to any nation that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War, which were the US and its Western European allies.
When OPEC quadrupled the price of world oil, nations wanted to stop relying on them. In the US, they made a national speed limit of 55mph to use less gas, used smaller car engines and downsized cars, started a petroleum reserve, and created the Department of Energy. The speed limit held at 55 until 1995.
Iran Hostage Crisis
The U.S. had been supporting the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a cruel authoritarian leader in Iran. A group of revolutionaries overthrew him in 1979. After fleeing the country, the shah was given asylum in the U.S., where he underwent medical treatment. Some angry students attacked the American Embassy in Teheran and took fifty-two people hostage on November 4, 1979. They were 444 days in captivity.
American Involvement In the Middle East TIMELINE
1947
• The U.S. (and Soviet Union) vote to partition Palestine. The area is occupied by about
1.000.000 Moslems, 600,000 Jews, and 150,000 Christians.
1948
• The U.S. (and Soviet Union) recognized the newly created state of Israel.
1957
• The U.S. (and Soviet Union) withdrew troops from all Egyptian territory and the Gaza Strip.
1975 (September)
• U.S. promises not to recognize or negotiate with the PLO until the PLO recognizes Israel’s
right to exist.
1978 (March)
• Israel invades Lebanon in response to PLO attacks; U.S. urges Israel’s withdrawal. Carter
continues to work on a peace plan with Israel and Egypt.
1979 (March)
• Peace Treaty signed in Washington; Israel will withdraw from the Sinai, trade will begin
between Israel and Egypt.
1979 (November)
• U.S. citizens seized in Iran
1981 (January)
• U.S. hostages released in Iran
1986 (April)
• U.S. planes attack Tripoli, Libya, to eliminate Khadafi for his support of terrorism.
1986 (November)
• U.S. secretly negotiated arms to Iran for release of Americans held by Lebanese groups.
1990 (August)
• Iraq invades Kuwait, Saudi Arabia requests & receives American military protection.
1991 (January)
• Iraqi military targets in Kuwait attacked by U.N. and U.S. forces. Kuwait freed in February.
1993
• Iraqi agents attempt to assassinate former president George H. Bush during a visit to Kuwait.
1998 (February)
• Iraq military confrontation between Saddam Hussein and the United States after Iraq halts all
work by United Nations arms inspectors
2003 (March)
• The U.S. and the U.K. invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power; in December,
Hussein is captured while hiding in a hole in the ground.
In 2005, Anti-USA conservative cleric Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins presidential elections in Iran and calls for the destruction of Israel.
Islamic Fundamentalism
Islam
• People who are Moslems follow a strict observance of the Five Pillars of Islam:
o Profess faith (shahadah)
o Prayers (salat)
o Fasting (sawm)
o Almsgiving (sakat)
o Pilgrimage (hajj)
Their religious ideology supports exact interpretations of sacred texts, such as the Qu’ran. Moslems believe this work contains the word of God as revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Fundamentalists of Islam rejects:
• universal rights; they seem to have a priority over religious rights
• men and women as being equal
• separation of church and state
• right to leave the religion
The fundamentalists strictly adhere to prohibitions such as no alcohol. They grow full beards (lihya) as a sign of devotion and piety. They wear distinctive clothing (including facial and head veils for women). They engage in acts of “purifying” violence directed against sinful institutions,
including nightclubs, movie theaters, and governments. Terrorist activity against Western government and society is a vivid expression of Islamic political fundamentalism in recent years.
Examples of Terrorist Activities
The following are some examples of terrorist attacks over the last few decades. These are merely representative examples; there are many, many, more incidents of terrorism that occurred during this time period. Many terrorist groups commit instances of terrorism and murder in the name of religion. As Americans, it is difficult to understand what prompts people to believe this is an activity defensible by religious faith.
Read over the examples, below, and think about the role of the United States in the Middle East today.
1. 2005: (September) A Danish newspaper printed political cartoons with Mohammad, Islam religious prophet – 139 people died in the resulting violence in the Middle East over the cartoons.
2. 2001: (September) The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York were destroyed and at the same time, the Pentagon was bombed. This crime is attributed to Al-Qaeda.
3. 2000: (October) The U.S.S. Cole, a ship stationed off the coast of Yemen, was attacked by Al-Qaeda; seventeen Americans and the two attackers were killed.
4. 1988: (December) Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and eleven people on the ground. This act of terrorism is attributed to Hezbollah.
5. 1983: Hezbollah pioneered the use of suicide bombers in the Middle East. They were linked to the 1983 bombing and murder of 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut, Lebanon.
6. 1983: A suicide bomber in a pickup truck loaded with explosives rammed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The Hezbollah militant group killed sixty-three people, including seventeen Americans.
8. 1972: Radical Palestinians resorted to a series of hijackings, kidnappings, bombings, and shootings in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The kidnapping and murder of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, Germany, in 1972, is an example.
(edited from source)