Many nations have emerged defeated and ruined from war but they were still able to turn defeat into victory. They pulled themselves out of the ashes using their available resources and built a strong power base. History also records those who lost faith in everything, and instead of influencing events, they allowed themselves to be pushed along by events.
Today, we are a defeated and injured nation. We feel that because we are weak and helpless, we are seen as an easy prey. This may be so but the question we should ask ourselves is what can be done? Are we to live in perpetual mourning, beating our chests, tearing our hair and turning our days into a non-stop mourning? Will we continue to blame others for our misfortunes and defeats and wait for a miracle or a savior to rescue us? Will we turn our bitterness into an avalanche of violence destroying everything in its path?
If Germany and Japan and others had chosen to live in despair, they would never have made any progress and become masters of a world in which only the strong survive. The weak do little except to wail, complain and beg others to give them back the rights taken from them. A nation dominated by feelings of grief and despair will end up living on the fringe of history and dreaming rather than doing.
The solution is there for all to see — open minds, science and hard work instead of superstition and impotence. Nations succeed because they focus on construction and production, leaving aside peripheral issues that might distract them from pursuing their goals. Yes, the Americans, the British and the French may have been hated — and perhaps still are — but that did not prevent them from moving forward. Our problem is that we are a people who want everything without doing anything, who dream but do not work to transform the dream into reality and who search for glory in history books without learning from history and then attempting to recapture that glory. Our problem is chronic and the treatment for it is painful but it must be borne.
Arab News From the Local Press 28 April 2003
