When it comes to fear, this might be the first essay you will ever read which does not make an allusion to Franklin Roosevelt’s thought that we have “nothing to fear but fear itself.” In this essay, I propose to comment on three kinds of fear that are prevalent today.
Under ordinary circumstances, I avoid entering a cage full of hungry Bengal tigers out of the fear that they will eat me alive. Fear for one’s personal safety is paramount in every human being.
There is a second kind of fear which is practiced by preachers and by politicians. The preachers tell us that unless you submit to their ministrations, you will be bound for an eternal life in a place called hell. The fact is that nobody knows anything about eternal life. Nor does anybody know where this place called hell is supposed to be located. Enlightened observers give no credence to eternal life or to the existence of hell.
The politicians tell us, as is the case today, that only they can protect us from horrible harm such as the World Trade Center disaster. Condoleezza Rice has said, “Who could imagine anyone flying an airplane into a building?” I might remind Madame Rice that the Japanese perfected that art during World War II. They were called kamikaze pilots. Some night when they are alone together, Harry Livermore, who commanded the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga, might enlighten Ms. Rice on this particular subject.
There is a third kind of fear which we are now experiencing. This primarily is the fear of what the most intellectually challenged politicians refer to when they call Muslims, “Islamo Fascists.” But let me take you back a step or two to explain this particular fear and its ramifications.
My last job with AT&T was Director of Correspondent Relations. Simply put, this job entailed dealing with all the other countries of the world on telecommunications matters.
It was my custom to personally visit the other authorities around the world to discuss and solve telecommunications matters. If there were no problems to solve, the meetings were to promote good relations with AT&T. In all cases it was my duty, as I saw it, to maintain harmonious relations with people all around the world. Some were Christians, some were Buddhists, some were Jews or Hindus, some were Muslims, and some were atheists. I met with all of them on their own turf.
Some of the places we visited were welcoming and some were forbidding. And some had a nightlife and others had none. Some had excellent restaurants and some had none. Witness most of the Arab cities that were on our travel itinerary.
At the end of 1981, I believe, I found myself together with two of my staff members in a meeting in Algiers, Algeria. Clearly the Algerians regarded this as an important meeting. They had only recently thrown off the French yoke and were eager to establish themselves as a significant nation on the world stage.
As the meeting convened, a gentleman walked into the room who seemed to have authority over the other Algerians. It is my belief that he was the new Foreign Minister for all of Algeria.
After introductions were made, I took it upon myself to thank this important figure for what the Algerians had done. The Algerians had persuaded the Iranians to release our prisoners after 444 days of their captivity by the Iranians. I told him that I could not speak for the American government, but that I spoke for the American people. I told him that we were very appreciative and that the Algerians had the thanks of every American.
The Algerian Foreign Minister said simply, “Mr. Carr, it was our duty to do that.” In other words, the Algerians, a Muslim nation, felt a duty to intervene with another Muslim nation to free American prisoners from our embassy in Tehran. As a matter of interest, the American prisoners being freed were in all likelihood Christians and Jews. The foreign minister knew that as well as I knew it. It was an extraordinary gesture by the Algerians, a Muslim nation.
I knew a good bit about Algiers because, at that time it was my custom to arrive early in the city where the meeting was to be held and to either walk or take a taxi to the place where we were to convene. I had no intention of becoming lost on the way to the meeting the following morning. It was my aim to nail down where the meeting was to take place and to see a bit of the city.
This practice led me to walk extensively around cities of all kinds, particularly Arab ones. In Arab cities there is virtually no nightlife to speak of. There might be a restaurant or two here and there, but the place to take your meals in an Arab city is usually at the hotel.
In walking around places like Algiers, Rabat, Tunis, Cairo, and Amman, Jordan I felt no fear whatsoever. But remember, this was in 1981.
I have only been entertained in one Arab home. That was in Bahrain. Yet in the meetings I have had with the Arabs, when they have taken us to dinner, it was apparent to me that they meant us no harm whatsoever. The Arabs take great pride in providing their guests with hospitality. They were interested in better relations between the two countries and between the telecommunications authorities in those countries.
Those good feelings today are probably gone. It would take a man much braver than I am to walk unescorted down the streets of Rabat, Algiers, Aleppo, Oran and Damascus, day or night. I’d leave out Cairo as I suspect that it is still a fairly safe place to visit but I would not rule out the occasional religious zealot who would take a shot at an American.
Identifying an American traveler in any city absurdly easy to do. Upon checking into a hotel, the clerk, without exception, will ask for your passport, which will be returned in an hour or two. In that hour or two, the clerk, if he is so inclined, could conceivably identify the American to member of his religious or tribal sect. Under those circumstances, the American would be easy to find and would be easy for one of those “Islamo Fascists” to deal with.
The point here is twofold. The United States government has identified the so called “Islamo Fascists” as our enemies. The Arabs have every reason to believe that we are hanging the Fascist tag on all of them. In instances such as this, the foreign governments would have no duty or obligation whatsoever to be of any help. If the current situation had existed back in 1981 when I met with the Algerians, they would not have lifted a finger to free the American captives.
Secondly, an American visiting an Arab country would no longer be free to enjoy himself because of fear of being injured or killed. This is nothing more than a byproduct of the Bush administration’s view toward Muslims. The Muslims conclude that if the American government dislikes Arabs so vigorously, and is joined by the Vatican from time to time, it would be logical to harm the American visitor because they could be viewed as the enemy of the Arabs.
I regret that the movers and shakers in the current administration have created this atmosphere. From the Muslim point of view, I can fully understand why they, in turn, have hostility toward Americans. And furthermore, with the increasing immigration of Muslims into Europe, it would not be surprising to find an American killed by one of those alleged Islamo Fascists in a place such as Rome or Paris.
So this is a new fear that must be endured by Americans going abroad. It is an unhappy circumstance that should never have happened. But as long as we “stay the course” in Iraq, this will be our fate. And as long as we support unequivocally Israel when it punishes Lebanon and the citizens of Gaza, we can expect only hostility from the Muslim nations. America can do better than that. I look forward to the day when I can walk unescorted and unafraid through the streets of Algiers and the other Arab cities. We have a long way to go to make that happen.
E. E. CARR
October 14, 2006
Essay 211
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Kevin’s commentary: Well I guess these years, the strategy was just to hope that the Arabs would be the bigger men in these types of situations. Turns out to have been a relatively safe gamble. I remember being relieved though when the administration changed, and one of the reasons was that I hoped our international reputation would start to improve. I believe it has, though maybe not as quickly as I would have liked.