Nation: Precautions Against Muslim Anger

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The U.S. reduces its presence in eleven nations

A wave of anti-American violence continued to sweep through the Muslim world. Two weeks ago, there were mob attacks on American outposts from Turkey to Bangladesh and the burning of the U.S. embassy in Pakistan. Last week there were more demonstrations, in Thailand, the Philippines and Kuwait; on Sunday, 2,000 rioting Libyans assaulted the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, but there were no American casualties.

Understandably, the Carter Administration remained deeply worried about the fragile state of U.S. relations with the Muslim world. The series of protests had been precipitated by Muslim outrage over the false charge that the U.S. was involved in the seizure of Mecca's Sacred Mosque (see following story).

The eruptions have also prompted a question among startled Americans: Why do the world's Muslims seem to harbor such hostility for the U.S.? As President Carter said at his press conference last week, "We have the deepest respect and reverence for Islam and all those who share the Muslim faith." The explanation for the anger cannot be strictly historical. While Iranian resentment over Washington's longtime links with the Shah is understandable, the U.S. never colonized Islamic lands as did, for example, France and Britain, nor does the U.S. have an appreciable Muslim minority, as does the Soviet Union, which has grown increasingly apprehensive that Khomeini's brand of revolutionary zealotry could infect its 50 million Muslim citizens.

The U.S. enjoys close relations with a number of Islamic countries, including Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. It is hard to escape the conclusion that in those Muslim countries where hostility toward the U.S. is most intense, the explanation lies as much in cultural differences as in history. Many Muslims feel a profound ambivalence toward the West, and especially toward the U.S. They are contemptuous of Western "materialism" and "decadence," yet they are also dependent upon Western technology and skill. Above all, they fear that Western influences will dilute and eventually destroy the Muslim way of life.

Whatever the reasons for the general phenomenon, there were lingering, legitimate fears in Washington that anti-U.S. riots could occur again, as long as the confrontation with Iran remained at flashpoint. Accordingly, the State Department last week called for the departure of all nonessential personnel and dependents among the 1,200 Americans based in elev en Muslim countries and officially discouraged Americans from traveling to them. A similar order had been issued earlier for Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.