Why has the middle east been on singapore's radar screen for the last few years? Because 220 million Muslims live in Indonesia, to our south, and another 20 million in Malaysia and southern Thailand, to our north. In 1991 these Muslim populations were not riled over Desert Storm in Iraq. But in 2003 they became agitated over what they saw as a bloodbath in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The unending crisis between the Israelis and Palestinians and the perceived double standards of the U.S. have also stoked Muslim anger. Muslims recently vented their anger over Lebanon by demonstrating against Israel's bombing of Lebanon and the U.S.' delaying of the UN Security Council's resolution calling for a halt to hostilities.
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