We all know that America is the place to be. A country that for now is the leader of the free world. A country that many believe represents freedom from tyranny, and the rights of liberty and the guarantee of justice that is given to all of those who are lucky enough to find themselves in this great land of ours But is this image correct or do we live with this false image of our great country of ours? We would like to think that this country represents the values and convictions of the American people, but in essence the rest of the global community, I believe, thinks differently. The reason? The war on Terrorism. Yes, I said it. You may have heard the phrase a million and one times. George B. says it like it is the root of every possible problem that the U.S. encounters in the world today. What does it truly stand for? If you ask anyone in any street on any American city the majority would define the phrase as war on terror. Let’s stop and think for a minute – a war on terror According to The American Heritage dictionary: War is defined as: A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties.Terror: Violence committed or threatened by a group to intimidate or coerce a population, as for military or political purposes. These two definitions technically define the war on terror. But let’s go a little deeper and ask ourselves, why have groups like Al Qaeda, Abu Sayef, Al Aqsa Martyers Brigade, and others declared proclaimed Jihad, or “holy war” on the United States and her allies? The plain reason is the American Foreign Policy in the Middle East region. It seems complicated but it’s not. The foreign policy of the American government has proven destructive and inefficient in portraying our country the way that we should be portrayed, as a world power with good intentions but instead as the Ayatollah of Iran has put it we are “The Great Satan.” American Foreign Policy has been destructive and the reason that we find ourselves in this “War on Terror”These are three reasons that I believe American Foreign Policy has failed the American people, and has put us in harms way, in regards to the War on Terror.1) The United States has played a major role in the militarization of the region.The Middle East is the destination of the majority of American arms exports, creating enormous profits for weapons manufacturers and contributing greatly to the militarization of this already overly-militarized region. The arms sales to countries with poor human rights records has in essence been used to put down the populations of countries like Turkey, Israel and other countries that carry human rights violations.2) The U.S. maintains an ongoing military presence in the Middle East.The U.S. maintains large military bases in the Gulf nations of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, a strong naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Seas, and air bases in Turkey. This large presence of American forces has sounded a sour note in many Arab countries giving them a sense of being violated and a belief that the large presence is not to keep the peace but to protect American access oil in the region.3) The U.S. has not been a fair mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.A sore spot in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many Arabs believe that the mediation between the two warring factions has been lopsided since the beginning. American mediation policy has favored the Israeli side. For many, the one sided support has angered many and has put a belief that the American support favors Israeli interest and not the Palestinian side.These three points are, I believe, the reasons that the War on Terror has been waged; the reason that we find ourselves in problematic situations that have no end in sight. Violence and hatred will continue if we do not change the course of our Foreign Policy towards the Middle East region to a more favorable, less selfish stance in the near future.