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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 21, 1905
PAGE 11
Israel that the King has floated recently. The enemies of peace comprise
two camps, closely interlinked. FirBt there is the loose state cooperative
of Libya, Syria and Iran. They coordinate their efforts more closely than
ever, as the article titled "Libya, Syria and Iran Coordinate Schemes to
Strike u.s. Targets, Arab Sources S,:ly," also from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
(June 19), shows:
While attention is focused on the hijacked American jetliner held
hostage here, a much broader terrorism network aimed at America
and moderate Arabs is taking shape in the Middle East•••• The
foreign ministers of Libya, Syria and Iran met in January in
Tehran and laid the groundwork for a new "anti-American
strategy," Arab sources close to the Syrian government say. The
countries agreed to escalate !_errorism against U.S. interests a��
personnel on� world-wide seal�, the sources say•••.
Syria and Libya also agreed to whip up Palestinian terrorism by
radical Palestinian factions opposed to Palestine Liberation
Organization leader Yasser Arafat. Mr. Arafat has angered the
radicals by his apparent willingness to participate in a peace
process led by moderate Arabs and the U.S. Iran, the sources
say, pledged to encourage terrorism by Moslem extremists.
The second enemy of peace is an upsurge in Islamic fundamentalism. Aroused
Shiites, urged on by Libya, Syria and Iran, have declared war on the forces
of moderation in the Middle East. Karen Elliott House, foreign editor of
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, wrote the following in a background piece, "The
West Will Remain Hostage," in her newspaper's Jun� 20 edition:
This week the headlines from the Middle East are about hijackers
and hostages. A week ago it was peace plans and PLO politics.
And a few weeks earlier it Nas an assassination attempt on the
emir of Kuwait and bombings (the first in modern memory) in the
capital of the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
All of these events reflect a fundamental truth: In the turbulent
Middle East, the men and matters of the moment are but little
sailboats bobbing on the waves. Beneath the surface lurks the
sea monster of radical Islam whose long tentacles of terroi: ism
can reach up-at any instant to snatch the sailboats and their
captains.
The princes and presidents of the Middle East with their armies
and their bodyguards, their palaces and their riches surely ought
to feel safer than some unarmed American traveler on a TWA
jetliner. But they don't•••because the terrorists are primarily
pursuing them. In short, the golden geese of the Middle East are
sitting ducks--maybe even dead ducks••••
Last week's hijackings once again underlined the impotence of
America and her moderate Arab allies in the face of Is:Lamic
terrorism. But Arab rulers already understood the score: In the
battle for the Middle East, radical Islam is 3 for 3. First they
drove America out of Iran. Then they blasted the U.S. out of
Lebanon. Finally, they chased Israel out as well.