the first policy... has been to support authoritarian and undemocratic governments in the oil nations in an effort to guarantee the long-term easy access to Middle East oil at "reasonable" prices. The other policy, equally important, has been to provide strong support to Israel and to guarantee the security of Israel as a Jewish state, also for the long term.

The importance of the oil driven U.S. foreign policy can be easily understood as we realize that in the year 2000 the US imported almost two-thirds of the oil that it used.

Christison has no doubt that one of the root causes of the September 11 attack was the U.S. policy of supporting the authoritarian and corrupt Arab and Muslim governments, and especially the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia. And in fact, I believe that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudi Arabia citizens.

Christison explains that the unilateral definition of terrorism adopted by the U.S. is advocated by the same authoritarian Arab rulers to preserve their political power; and therefore, the same Arab population at large, looking forward to democratic regimes, become more incensed against their own corrupt governments.

In light of this understanding, the many current Arab and Muslim protests against the Israeli military invasion of Palestinian territories are both an expression of solidarity for the Palestinian aspiration to freedom as well as an expression of contempt for the local corrupt Arab and Muslim governments. As a consequence, the Palestinian quest for freedom and the establishment of their own state has an importance far greater than the borders of the Israeli-Palestine region. And this is why Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has an ever stronger support from his own people as well as from ordinary people from any Arab and Muslim country.

Christison recommends that the U.S. should encourage a political movement toward greater political democracy in the Arab nations and without using its military force, while playing a stronger role in the establishment of two truly sovereign nations: Israel and Palestine.

References
Why US foreign policy must change By Bill Christison, former senior CIA officer, Counterpunch, April 7, 2002 http://www.counterpunch.org/christison2.html