Islamic fundamentalism is not a threat to U.S. security.

• Author: Hadar, Leon

THE DISCOVERY in the New York area of a cell of Moslem activists allegedly responsible for the bombing of the World Trade Center as well as behind a plot to assassinate several world leaders and blow up the United Nations headquarters has raised the fear among Americans about a new Islamic threat. This so-called Green Peril (green is the color that symbolizes Islam) is represented by the Middle Eastern Moslem fundamentalist, a Khomeini-like creature, armed with radical ideology, equipped with nuclear weapons, and intent on launching a violent Jihad (holy war) against Western civilization.

Indeed, these terrorist incidents, coupled with other developments--including the rise of political Islam in Egypt and North Africa, the birth of several independent Moslem republics in Central Asia whose political orientation is unclear, and the regional and international ties fostered by Islamic governments in Iran and Sudan--are producing an urge to identify Islam as an inherently anti-democratic force that is America's new global enemy now that the Cold War is over. The Islamic threat agrument is becoming increasingly popular with some segments of the American foreign policy establishment. They are encouraged by other governments who, for reasons of self-interest, want to see Washington embroiled in the coming West vs. Islam confrontation. The result is the construction of the new peril, a process that does not reflect any grand conspiracy, but nevertheless has its own logic, rules, and timetables.

The creation of a peril usually starts with mysterious "sources" and unnamed officials who leak information, float trial balloons, and warn about the coming threat. Those sources reflect debates and discussions taking place within the government. Their information is augmented by colorful intelligence reports that finger exotic and conspiratorial terrorists and military advisers. Journalists then search for the named and other villains. The media end up finding corroboration from foreign sources who form an informal coalition with those in the U.S. government and help the press uncover further information substantiating the threat coming from the new bad guys.

In addition, think tank studies and op-ed pieces add momentum to the official spin. Their publication is followed by Congressional hearings, policy conferences, and press briefings. A governmental policy debate ensues, producing studies, working papers, and eventually doctrines and policies that become part of the media's spin. The new villain now is ready to be integrated into the popular culture to help mobilize public support for a modem Crusade. In the case of the Green Peril, that process has been under way for several months.

Not surprisingly, foreign governments--including those of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, India, and Pakistan--have reacted to the evidence of U.S. fear. With the end of the Cold War, they are concerned about a continued U.S. commitment to them and are trying to exploit the menace of Islamic fundamentalism to secure military support, economic aid, and political backing from Washington, as well as to advance their domestic and regional agendas. The Gulf War provided the Turks, Saudis, Egyptians, and Israelis with an opportunity to revive the American engagement in the Middle East and their own roles as Washington's regional surrogates. Now that the Iraqi danger has been diminished, the Islamic fundamentalist threat is a new vehicle for achieving those goals.

The Israeli government and its supporters in Washington are trying to play the Islamic card. The specter of Central Asian republics and Iran equipped with nuclear weapons helps Israel to reduce any potential international pressure on it to place its own nuclear capabilities and strategy on the negotiating table. More important, perhaps, the Green Peril could revive, in the long run, Israel's role as America's strategic asset, which was eroded as a result of the end of the Cold War and seriously questioned during the Gulf War.

Egypt's role in the Gulf War produced some economic benefits, including forgiveness of its $7,000,000,000 debt to the U.S., and its agreement with Israel has improved Cairo's position as a mediator in the peace process. However, Washington's post-Desert Storm expectation that Cairo would play an active part in the new security arrangement in the Persian Gulf has proven unrealistic. Saudi Arabia and other conservative Gulf monarchies have been less than enthusiastic about Egypt's having a military role in the region.

Since it can not become a U.S...