TEHRAN "If we think that there is no relationship between the increasing anti-American feelings in the Middle East and U.S. policies in the region, we are certainly wrong," former U.S. national security advisor Zbignew Brzhinsky said during an interview on Oct. 13 with Qatar's Al-Jazeera television network.

Emphasizing that hatred of the U.S. has its roots in Washington's policies, Brzhinsky said that the presence of U.S. military forces in Saudi Arabia, the punishment of Iraq's peoples and the inability of the U.S. to establish peace in the Middle East has depicted the U.S. as an oppressor and a supporter of occupiers.

Brzhinsky said, "Anti-terrorism efforts should not sideline efforts to identify the psychological and political roots of this phenomenon. U.S. officials intend to define terrorism as a phenomenon unrelated to U.S. policies and limit it to the hard-line Islamic groups. Consequently, the U.S. is trying to evade its responsibilities in creating this phenomenon.

"Currently, there are two sorts of terrorism in the world. First, state-sponsored terrorism, the best example of which in the world is the Zionist regime which is supported by the U.S. and the UK. Over the past fifty years, the Zionist regime has been the main source of disorder and insecurity in the Middle East.

"The second form of terrorism is carried out by hard-line groups, which chant seemingly Islamic and religious slogans. But there is historical and documentary evidence which proves that the U.S. and Britain created these groups.

"According to U.S. political analysts, by exaggerating the danger of these terrorist groups, the U.S. is trying to portray any kind of campaign against Zionism and U.S. policies as terrorism.

"If the U.S. stops supporting the Zionists and U.S. military forces return home, the Middle East will become a center of peace and friendship." Brzhinsky said.