Many of my friends have expressed nervousness at the highly belligerent tone emanating from the US toward our brothers and sisters in Syria and Iran.
Even Saudi Arabia, a country known around the world for its peaceful nature, has not been spared accusations and even threats.
Watching US TV and reading US newspapers one could be forgiven if one believed that war was imminent.
In my travels have seen bookstores full of new books warning their readers of the alleged evil of these three countries. Neocon think tanks continue to spew report after report explaining how Iraqi WMDs are now in Syria and how Iran is a nuclear threat to the whole world.
As for us, we are supposedly bankrolling the very people who are blowing up our cities and killing our citizens and therefore the world will be safer when our country is dismembered by the neocons — who are merrily debating whether to divide us up three ways or four.
Dear readers, relax.
Put up your feet and if you are a smoker have a cigar.
Don’t worry.
It is highly unlikely given the current international political and economic situation that we will be seeing the “Legions of Freedom” marching anywhere new any time soon.
This is not due to a lack of desire but to a lack of capability.
Especially since the commanders of the US armed forces would prefer to have live scorpions stuffed down their shorts rather than embark on another harebrained neocon “cakewalk”.
So the senators can have their hearings and the congressmen their inquiries. Even county sheriffs in the myriad counties in that great land can gather to discuss what awful people we are.
The editorialist in the media can editorialize until they are blue in the face.
Entire forests of trees can be cut down and turned into paper to print books cataloging in loving and excruciating detail all our numerous alleged shortcomings.
To all of these dear readers you need only say (with a small but comfortable smile):
“By the hairs of your chinny, chin, chin,
You can huff...
You can puff...
But you can’t blow our house in!
So, please.... spare the trees!”
— Arab News Opinion 5 October 2003
