Old friends in Arab world see US betraying ideals
By Anthony Shadid
CAIRO: With the bitterness of betrayal, Said Naggar looks out at a region on the brink of war and sees the wreckage of ideals he cherished and principles he proclaimed.
The United States wants to partition Iraq, he argues in slow, deliberate tones, and covets the world's second-largest oil reserves. An invasion, he says, serves only Israel and a clique within the Bush administration "whose ignorance is matched only by their greed."
A pre-emptive war, whose very premise he believes defies international law, signals the rebirth of colonialism and imperialism that seemed finished generations ago.
"I feel we have been deceived about the nature and character of the United States of America," he said.
Remarkably, these are the words of a friend. Naggar is a World Bank veteran who quotes the Declaration of Independence and whose son is a US citizen. His library is stocked with works of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and "all the great founders." He lived for 17 years in Washington, where he says he never felt like a foreigner, and still longs for the city's intellectual and artistic life.
In 1991, he founded a group called the New Civic Forum "to promote the ideas and ideals of the United States of America." Today, the very thought gives rise to a long, boisterous laugh.
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