From Saddam to Bin Laden, we all make promises. Also, we easily break them. You can see who keeps looking for the smoking gun but need to look into the mirror to realize who is carrying it. To catch up with the atrocities of Saddam, hundreds of thousands of visitors and locals permitted themselves to break up and loot Iraq or destroy it in order to rebuild it. Islamic institutions and Arab culture have to be sacrificed for free democracy to be implemented by forceful arrogance, and the claim to replace dictatorships.
The oil fields have to be safely protected so when the looting is ended, wealth is saved for a rainy day.
The religious zealots are using the latest technologies of the invading Westerners and then blaming their values.
Under Saddam all the ills known to mankind were carried out in cruel style behind a veil.
Today, after the introduction of imported democracy and fair Western values, wrapped in Zionist aspirations, according to Likud ways, the Arabs that they say, hear, see and feel horror being inflicted on them.
With all these events, there are promises for a better tomorrow in Iraq. Better still, a promising future for the other Arabs. They merely need to be patient.
Instead Arab nations must be agonized by nightmares. They seem to sleep well on Western tranquilizers, made in the US to the best British standards. The Ottoman Turks knew it best and let the British carry everything back to the West.
Now the Americans, by hook or crook, re-engineer it at the Arabs’ own risk. For a pound of flesh, they receive it, full of their best wishes and plenty of debts paid for by oil pumped at low costs and sold at high prices.
Whether the future of Iraq is bright or bleak depends on the promises and deliveries by the USA “firemen” in their pursuit to establish a democracy in Iraq. Early signs are not comforting to well-intentioned, fairly level-headed knowledgeable people.
The promise given by the “US General”, entrusted with this assignment and honor is such that no one can wait to see which way the future of the Iraqi people will take shape.
As a matter of fact, it could very well extend to all the countries of the region except the only privileged “chosen nation”. After all the Arabs are loved by the West so much and they deserve only the best.
This particular “US General” has repeatedly in public told to his assistants to look for employment somewhere else because their assignments will not extend beyond three months.
Therefore democracy is promised for Iraq by the “US General” in three months but will Iraqis buy it?
Certainly it is going for a song. The Arabs say “the valuable” offer has its price built in. But do Arabs elevate themselves to promises made repeatedly to them by the West? If not they had better blame themselves, not others.
It is well known that birds of a feather flock together.
Arab News Features 14 April 2003
