The question I would like to ask US President George W. Bush is: What is it exactly that you are looking for?
Oil?
Well, you know very well that oil flows regularly to you and at a very convenient price as well.
Do you want to be admired by others and win their loyalty?
In some Arab countries parents even named their children after your father. As for loyalty, everyone is rushing to please you and make sure they consult with you before taking even the smallest step. Some in the Middle East care about your health more than anyone in your family and know that the health of your late dog was more important to you than the health of the majority of the people in the region.
If you want markets for American products, the overwhelming majority of people in the Middle East take pride in having everything, from furniture and cars, from cosmetics to detergents imported from America.
I think, Mr. President, you are most concerned with darling Israel — that state surrounded and hounded by evil countries in possession of so many WMDs that even North Korea’s nuclear arsenal pales in comparison.
The real weapons in the possession of those countries are, however, so obsolete that they are of very limited military use. America now has no competitor who could pose any threat, whether ideological, military or economic. The Soviet Union is no more; the Russians are broke and in debt and the Europeans are struggling to make their euro prevail. China is preoccupied with a tiny virus known as SARS and may need years to recover; the Asian tigers have been tamed and can hurt no one.
All this means that anything you plan for the Middle East will meet with success. So why this flood of democratic and non-democratic initiatives targeting this part of the world?
Do you really want genuine democracy in the region where everything is put up for public discussion, including American deals and demands, with council members only accepting what is best for their country and rejecting all that isn’t?
Do you want Parliaments such as those in Britain, Germany and the United States where everyone, big or small, is accountable to law?
Mr. President, you may control the economy and other aspects of life in the Middle East but you will never be able to influence or control the will of the people you are pressuring.
