BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS
SABAH- The new pet subject of conspiracy theorists is Washington’s Greater Middle East Initiative. However, the GME is a very transparent plan with no space for collusion. Its roots date all the way back to Sept. 11, 2001. Those who are still trying to see the world through simplistic Marxist lenses fail to see how dramatically the US was altered by Sept. 11. The Iraq war was nothing but an attempt to establish security in the Middle East. However, some insisted that it was about oil. As a matter of fact, buying oil from Saddam Hussein was easier and less expensive than waging a $100 billion war on Iraq.
US President George W. Bush first mentioned this project last November in an address to the National Endowment for Democracy. ‘Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe – because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty,’ said Bush. ‘Therefore, the United States has adopted a new policy, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East.’ In brief, Washington believes that the Middle East cannot continue business as usual. An absence of democracy leaves terror and violence free to paralyze the region. For the safety of both the US and the rest of the world, democracy, open societies and free markets must be established there.
The main projects under the GME will be unveiled to the world at the upcoming G-8 summit as well as NATO’s upcoming June summit in Istanbul. According to the rumor mill, the thrust of the project will be improvement of the following three areas in the Middle East: information, education and the participation of women. And the model which inspired this project is Turkey.
When it comes to the GME, nothing is yet clear. Americans can’t help but laugh since, grandiose conspiracies notwithstanding, even they don’t know what to do or how to do it. As a matter of fact, the outlines of the blueprint are ready, but construction has yet to begin.