If an American or even worse, an Israeli, pushes one Arab around, they care more about it than 100,000 Arabs dead at the hands of a fellow Arab.
This is the kind of "Arab Mind" remark that I would normally dismiss, if I hadn't seen several talk shows during the war where Arabs from surrounding countries were face to face with Iraqi expats. It was really pretty shocking to hear an Egyptian telling an Iraqi who'd gotten out of the country to escape death at the hands of the Baathist regime how he was rooting for Saddam against the USA. Kind of like French communists like Sarte telling a gulag escapee how great Communism was under Stalin.
At the same time, I would not waste effort getting in the Arab Street's face over this; several articles have already been posted with Arabs questioning why someone like Saddam was ever supported. The real purpose of the war was never WMD imho, it was, among other things, to send a clear message, and I'd say it was received.
On the WMD issue, it's actually a little late now to be asking whether Americans would have tolerated the loss of life of our soldiers just for ridding the region of Saddam, freeing Iraqi citizens, and a more reliable flow of oil. It's a done deal, and now the issue will be settled one way or another by the time honored method of Political Scandal. |
