JEDDAH, 8 April 2003 — A recent poll found that American television viewers are showing signs of war fatigue. If a poll of Saudi and Arab viewers in general was conducted, the findings will be more or less the same.
Whenever people get together here, news of the war is all they talk about. Ask them what they think and they say it’s sad, they can’t watch anymore, they wish it would end soon — with the Americans retreating in shame and disgrace and taking Saddam and his regime with them. But they continue to watch because, while only three American cable news networks are covering the war full-time, most Arab television and satellite channels are either covering it around the clock or dedicating a large chunk of their time to it. Only a few channels keep to their regular programming, and when people do take a break and switch to these channels they quickly go back to the war coverage.
We used to complain that we don’t get news of what’s happening in our homes and backyards quickly and reliably enough. Now we are not overwhelmed by the constant coverage and analysis of the situation. It’s like having an out-of-body experience. You know these experts and analysts are talking about your country and your future, yet you sit there and listen helplessly.
I wonder if the American people are going on with their daily lives with a heavy heart and a clouded mind like us. But perhaps they are still enjoying their soap operas and sitcoms and sport shows without the least consideration for the changes the next few months and years will bring to the rest of the world.
I wonder how Americans can so enthusiastically watch their reality shows yet be already tired of watching the reality of the war their government started. Having lived in the US I know that most American people are decent, kind-hearted, fun-loving and hard-working. Although they tend to be self-absorbed, there are probably more charity organizations in the US than anywhere else in the world, and Americans give generously when they believe in a good cause. Why is it then so difficult for them to understand that it isn’t necessary to destroy a country in order to liberate it or to kill its people in order to save them? And second, what right did the US have to go into another country by force and change its regime?
For the information of the American people and George W. Bush, Iraq has had worse dictators in its long history, and yet the Iraqi people survived and prospered without the help of an outside force. Shouldn’t the good American people ask their democratic government for the real reason they are invading Iraq? Shouldn’t they demand that their free media inquire about the truth and present it to them?
That Americans are naive and simple bespeaks their good hearts. Perhaps they need reminding that their government was not completely honest and straightforward with them during the Vietnam War and the many other wars it has been involved in since. Why do they believe everything it tells them now?