U.S. policy in Algeria is based on the notion of moderates, but there aren't any. An unnamed U.S. official has explained this policy (as paraphrased by Paul Schemm in "Hope for Algeria?" Middle East Insight, September-October 1994, p. 47): "In an effort to avoid having the United States consistently labeled an enemy of Islam and 'the Great Satan,' the administration is examining each conflict carefully in order to avoid condemning anything to do with Islam."
Better in this case to follow the French lead. As Prime Minister Edouard Balladur has said (Le Monde, Aug. 10, 1994): "You have to choose between the ability of the authorities to control the situation or the coming to power of Muslim fundamentalists." Interior Minister Charles Pasqua admits (France-2 Television, Aug. 4, 1994) that "The current authorities are not a model of democratic government," but backs them anyway because they are preferable to a fundamentalist regime. The existing government threatens neither our interests nor the human rights of Algerians as much as would a fundamentalist successor.
