Who considered who the enemy first?

Question

In defense of the state of Israel, did the U.S. government consider Muslims states as enemies before Muslims considered Americans enemies?
Hate can't exist for no reason. Can anyone truly say they hated Muslim terrorists before 9/11? I doubt it. The act of terrorism caused the anger and hatred.
The anger and hatred for America among the Muslim world hasn't just popped out of the clear blue sky either. There must be an equal reason for it to exist.
That causes me to wonder, who considered who the enemy first? Who will have to take the first steps toward resolution?

Answer 1

Well done. This is the kind of question we always need to be asking and don't. If a man walks up to you on the street and hits you in the face, it is only natural that you would be very upset, but sooner or later you have want to know why he did that. We in the US need to ask why 9/11 happened when we finally get over being so upset that it happened. No one is blameless for violence occurring. We are part of an international addiction to oil and the advantages it offers, and the behavior of nations that depend on it has frequently been deplorable, the US included. In 1954 our CIA deposed the elected President of Iran because he nationalized their oil business. http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/history/2000/0416ciairan.htm
We replaced him with the brutal regime of the Shah and this led to violence against the US in the form of the Iran hostage crisis involving Americans. If there is to be any peace in this, or any other region, our foreign policy cannot contribute to the violence.
Who hated who first is always a good question for us all, and it is the beginning of some wisdom in discussions, as long as we are willing to be honest.

Answer 2

One way of looking at this is: In 1983, the Iranian-funded terrorist group Islamic Jihad made its first appearance by staging deadly suicide bombs against peacekeeping American soldiers during the Lebanese civil war. This group was created of course by the conflicts in the area between the IDF and rival Arab factions.

There is, however, no real history of Muslims' towards the US. The conflict in the Middle East today is almost totally the fault of botched European and American meddling and opportunism, namely arms dealing. What is happening is a new thing, something that the west has created simply by being incompetent and greedy.

edit: looking at some of these answers it seems to be that people want to find as much of an excuse as possible to blame the other side for our own provokocation. I think we need to solve the problem of racism before anything else...

Answer 3

A little American history. During the second world war the Shaw of Iran sided with the Germans, he thought they would win and he could bring the prestige back to Persia that he thought was their due. After the war the U.S. and the British installed his son as the Shaw of Iran, we thought we could bribe him, and we did, to get to their oil. We sold them the best military technology we had at the time, we gave them nuclear technology. He pissed all over his people driving them into poverty, we didn't care, we had the oil. Along comes Khomeini takes over the country and the hostages. That is our history around the world, manipulate countries, topple the governments we can't buy off and steal their resources. When that bomb blew up in our faces we aided Saddam against Iran. Check out Rumsfeld shaking his hand, the picture is available on the internet. We need to learn to deal with people fairly and above board, maybe then we can start to earn back the respect we have been losing around the world for years.

Answer 4

Some good answers here, but this has been going on a lot longer... Anyone remember 1979? The taking of the hostages in the US Embassy in Iran?

Or how about the Arab Oil Embargo (due to US support of Israel).

It's pretty clear who considered who the enemy first, and will continue to do so.

There IS no resolution.

Answer 5

The Rambo first blood question

The Muslim Brotherhood has been active since WWII In fact there is an amazing French public service announcement from 1955 warning of the dangers of the Muslim Brotherhood.

One of America's first allies was Morocco they helped us win the revolutionary War. But first blood is 1958.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_crisis_of_1958

Go big Red Go

Answer 6

THE RESOLUTION COMES ON THE TIP OF A NUKE.
THAT BEING SAID THE HATE FOR TERRORIST GOES BACK BEFORE 9/11 During the Clinton Administration, there were 6 major terrorist attacks against the U.S. which left over 415 dead and 6,500 injured. It seems to me that it’s very easy to maintain the illusion of peace by ignoring the dangers that surround us. You may look back fondly at the 1990s as a time of peace, but it was a peace during which we relaxed while our enemies were getting stronger and preparing to annihilate us. That’s a pretty shallow peace if you ask me.
THEIR CAN BE NO PEACE ONLY DESTRUCTION TILL ONE IS LEFT STANDING.

Answer 7

I like the question and think that it is a good thing to ask this kind of question but the bottom line is this, we did not target and kill civilians on their turf. We have not tried to blow up airplanes carrying civilians. We don't take hostages from civilian populations of Muslim countries. The reason for the attacks doesn't matter to me , the people who conducted it are murders. I am not anti military and if a country picks military targets and attacks them I don't have as much of a problem with that but attacks on civilians is BS.

Answer 8

I'd say the emnity goes back to 632 AD.

There has always been a strain of Islam that advocates violent spread of the religion.

Yes, many consider Israel to be "stolen Arab land."

I'd bet you could find a number of extremists who consider Spain to be the same, since the Muslim crusaders conqueres that country for a period of time also - a shorter period, and in the past, but doubt it would be very difficult to find a Muslim cleric claiming that land for Islam.

PS nope, didn't take long at all to find:

http://www.islammessage.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=2477

Answer 9

I dated a guy who hated them long befor 9/11. I normally wouldn't put up with such prejudice but I gave him some slack because his hatred was just a scar. He was one of the men who helped "clean up" after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. He had nightmares from having to saw limbs off of bodies pinned under the brick walls & floors so bodies could be sent home to loved ones.

Answer 10

America was fighting Muslim extremists as far back as 1796 or thereabouts. i could be a few years off, and it may go even further back than that. they used to attack American ships off the coast of Barbary and take the sailors as slaves. America paid a "tax" to them for a number of years to get them to stop. when Thomas Jefferson became president, he quit paying the tax and instead sent a fleet of ships to Barbary.

go check out the troubles France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Thailand, etc. are having with Muslim extremists in their countries. you don't see any of this on any of the news channels. but it's there.