General John Abizaid

A Lebanese American, Abizaid was born in northern California in 1951. His grandparents had immigrated to California from southern Lebanon during the late 19th century. His father, was in the Navy during World War II and raised him after Abizaid’s mother died of cancer.

Abizaid received his commission as Second Lieutenant of Infantry upon graduating from the West Point in 1973. After this he served in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment followed by: 82nd Airborne, the 1st & 2nd Ranger Battalions.




During the invasion of Grenada the decisions he made as a Captain would later be featured in the film Heartbreak Ridge by Clint Eastwood.

He was a U.S. Central Command(CENTCOM) commander, overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region.


Abizaid has had a glowing career in the military, having retired from the military on May 1, 2007 after 34 years of service as a four star General.

During his keynote at the Northern Ohio Lebanese American Association (NOLAA) Lebanese Heritage Ball with some thoughts on what it means to be Lebanese.

Abizaid was highly decorated even for a Flag Officer



Leahy Lecture

"Why do they hate us?"

US/Israel Relationship

The relationship the US has with Israel is a key factor in a lot of the issues surrounding the topic and one of the main reasons for large amounts of dissent toward the US by countries in the region.


For example, 40% of all US aid goes to Israel, that is over 3.5 billion dollars annually.

The accords divided the West Bank into 3 sections

• Big Cities where the Palestinians have full control Area A
• AREA B where Israel would be in charge of security
• Area C covers 2/3rds of west bank (where the Israeli settlements are)

Protocols were signed in 1994 between Palestine and Israel which covered economic relations, taxes and import export relations, but not upheld by Israel which led to the 2nd Intifada in 2000 along with a few other reasons.

Even after this the US did not try to help keep Israel accountable, these issues build up.



https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo

Supporting Dictators

• The support for autocrats in the region with weapons, training, and diplomatic support.
• The ongoing sanctions against Iraq that were killing innocents there.
  
• Toppling governments which lead to hardliners gaining power.

Self Interest

• Broken promises of self-determination after WWII, neo-imperialism of the United States.
• Oil grabbing
• Economic policies which hurt the regions as opposed to helping the people leading to massive cuts in social services.
• Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan which allowed Iran to expand its power in the regions and extremists to gain as well.
• Absence of WMDs and Guantanamo scandals

"The USA and the Arab World"

The Arabic World and the US

It seems as though most people in the Arabic world don't dislike the US people, but our politics. According to surveys.

Below is a link to a survey held by the Arab American Institute on November 30, 2017. It surveyed about 8,000 adults throughout the Arabic world and focuses on the attitudes towards conflicts throughout the Arabic world and various other developments.


http://www.aaiusa.org/sir_bani_yas_poll_public_opin


Some topics included are;
Role in Syria
Role in Iraq
Concern for Yemen
U.S. Policies Under Trump
Israel/Palestine
Iran Deal
and more.


You can find a variety of polls covering different topics on this website.
http://www.aaiusa.org/opinion-polls

Some of the reoccurring themes seem to be the Israel/Palestine issue and whether the US is more concerned about its own interests, such as acquiring oil and footholds across the middle east. The US can at times also be a bit hypocritical in its policies. Instilling dictators/funding them and getting rid of democracies if a power that the US does not approve of is elected.