THE DAWN of another New Year will be breaking all over the world shortly, yet the Middle East will be groping in the darkness with not even a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

The situation has been further compounded by civil wars or near civil war situations in other Arab and Muslim countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon and Sub-Saharan states.

The Palestinian issue is the major concern of all Arabs while the Iraqi issue is a challenge to Arab sovereignty. The Iranian issue, no doubt, is, an extension of Middle Eastern issues. These are three time bombs that may explode any moment.

A number of summits were held and agreements signed in order to bring a just and comprehensive peace to the Middle East but nothing substantial materialized out of them.

With their double standards while dealing with the Palestinians and Israel, the United States and its European allies have, unfortunately, wasted a number of opportunities to make peace in the region. They never criticized, but even permitted, Israel’s systematic violations of human rights and expansionist encroachments into the neighboring Arab territories with scant regard for international laws.

The people in the Middle East doubt the neocon-dominated US administration’s capability to bring about a just peace in the Middle East. Only an arbiter known for his impartiality and fairness can strike a peace deal between two contending parties. The US is no longer trusted by the Arabs because of its blind support of Israel and efforts to enforce its imperialist designs in the region. It is also public knowledge these days that American and British leaders were lying and misleading the world when they said that the Iraqi regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. It would also be naive to assume that these leaders did not foresee the inevitable consequences of a forced regime change in Iraq.

Since the first day he sent the US occupation forces to Iraq, President George W. Bush has been telling the world that his forces have been winning and the situation has come nearly under control. Further, the president claimed that the democratic process in the country has been set in motion. On the contrary, the reality and his claims are poles apart. Finally all the false pretensions collapsed and the US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to tender his resignation.

The US has also been a failure in brokering peace in the Middle East. Bush has seemingly forgotten his past declaration about founding an independent Palestinian state, prompting Israel to continue with its policy of aggression on an unprecedented scale and to attack Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister also closed all doors for talks with Syria for a peace initiative.

Washington is watching with fingers crossed the unveiling of the nuclear ambitions of Iran. One shudders to imagine what will be the plight of the people in the Gulf in the event of a nuclear outrage taking place in the region.

All the developments point to the deepening of tension in the region because the US has been frustratingly stupid in handling the situation. Their lack of respect for international laws and double standards in dealing with complicated political issues have only served to deepen the Arab people’s hatred for them. If the US wants to improve its image in the Arab world and win back its credibility, it will have to do some serious rethinking of its policies in the region.