History is a terrifying teacher. It is ruthlessly blunt and has a knack of slapping humanity in the face. That is probably why, though people have tried to revise, obliterate, and even falsify history, history ultimately wins. You see, time is on the side of truth, and therefore a natural ally of history.
We can put men on the moon and other men in the gladiatorial ring and revel in the spectacle, but we can’t control time.
Take as an example this latest twist of ironic historical truth: Algeria lost a million souls trying to throw out the French and gain independence. Barely four decades after that independence was secured, a million Algerians went out into the streets to welcome the first French president to visit the independent country.
It would have been a generous and dignified welcome between two ex-enemies turned friends.
But the Algerians in the streets were shouting “visa, visa” into Jacques Chirac’s ecstatic ears.
The Algerians wanted the right to go to France, to work in France, to immigrate to France. In short, they wanted to be French again.
As a historian, I can deduce two points: First, the Algerian experiment with independence was a failure. Second, the French are a success in spite of their colonial loss.
Moving from the specific to the general and from Algeria to the Arab world, one can see the provenance of the failure that results in such a damning historical verdict.
I would not want to be one of those who guided the 22 independent Arab countries through the decades of “freedom” when history comes to be written.
The Castor and Pollux of Iraq, Qusai and Uday, have been buried, but that is not the end of the story. The council ruling Iraq today under the protection of America is nothing more than little castors in the making. They include an indicted criminal, a discredited mullah, a multi-faceted citizen of at least two other Arab countries, etc.
They and most of the Iraqis are calling for the liberation of Iraq from America’s yoke. Well, that is legitimate as far as I’m concerned. But the cynical historian in me asks: Come 2020, will we not see a million Iraqis greeting a visiting American president with the “visa, visa” cries?
Given the premise and the elements of this equation, I think the outcome is almost certain.
Herein lies the tragedy. The Americans in Iraq are the agents of time; the real cause of their presence lies with Castor and Pollux and those who inherit their domain and their methods.
If we do not put our own house in order, someone else will inevitably do so for us.
If you don’t believe me or the order of history, just ask the Algerians.
- Arab News Opinion 7 August 2003
