The news of the capture of the evildoer who was a threat to the United States and the free world with his weapons of mass destruction — which no one has yet found — has been received with mixed reaction here in the Kingdom.
Saudis from every background had something to say about the capture. Despite the difference in opinion, however, most Saudis were in agreement with what appeared in two cartoons in major Saudi newspapers.
The cartoons showed Saddam Hussein with his mouth open being examined by a doctor and Bush asking, “Well?” to which the reply was, “Still no weapons of mass destruction!” Most Saudis shared a sense of relief that the dictator had finally been captured.
They know that the Iraqi people — descendants of many great civilizations and peoples — deserve much better than Saddam.
Without fear of the brute and his henchmen, they can now begin a new chapter in their lives and begin planning and building a brighter future. At the same time, a number of Saudis felt that the capture was not a clear victory for Bush & Co. and his policies in the Middle East. Many others questioned the US role in Iraq.
Now that the regime has fallen and the bad guy has been caught, what are the Americans doing in Iraq?
And another group of people, happy for the Iraqis but not so sure what the US might do next, feel nervous because the US, after capturing its wanted big bad boy, may have the guts to tell any country in the world, “Listen, we do not like you. We are going to come and invade you if you do not nod your head at everything we say. We make the rules. No questions asked.”
An educated Saudi in the government commented, “If America were serious about ridding the world of dictators, why doesn’t it remove Ariel Sharon? Wasn’t he directly responsible for the massacres of Sabra and Shatila and, more recently, in Jenin? Why do they call him a man of peace?”
Whatever the case is, whether it is finding weapons of mass destruction or not, removing the regime, or claiming to liberate the people, the majority of people in the Arab world will never really believe that the United States has good intentions in the region — not as long as the bloodshed and the double standard the US uses in its foreign policy, especially regarding the Palestinians, continues.
The truth is that there are a lot of Saudis who feel sorry for Saddam. Not because he was found cowering in a hole in the ground but because they think that he too is a victim of American inconsistencies and double standard.
During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Saddam was perceived as the US’ man in the region.
They not only supported him with equipment but provided him with satellite photos of Iranian troop locations and movements. Saddam in the 1980s was no different from Saddam Hussein in the 1990s and later.
He was always a killer of his own people, always ordering torture for his opponents.
Did not America know that he was a thoroughly wicked and unprincipled dictator at the time? Yes, of course they did, but as a commentator on an American radio station said, “As long as he was killing Iranians, everything was OK.”
