How have most Middle Eastern governments reacted to the September 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath?
Virtually every government and the vast majority of their populations reacted with the same horror and revulsion as did people in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Despite scenes shown repeatedly on U.S. television of some Palestinians celebrating the attacks, the vast majority of Palestinians also shared in the world’s condemnation. If the United States, in conjunction with local governments, limits its military response to commandostyle operations against suspected terrorist cells, the U.S. should receive the cooperation and support of most Middle Eastern countries. If the response is more widespread, based more on retaliation than selfdefense, and ends up killing large numbers of Muslim civilians, it could create a major antiAmerican reaction which would increase support for the terrorists and lessen the likelihood for the needed cooperation to break up the AlQaeda network, which operates in several Middle Eastern countries. While few Middle Easterners support bin Laden’s met
