Gulf War II is a shock to the Arab system

Mpls (red)Star Tribune / New York Times ^ | 4/3/03 | Thomas L. Friedman

[Valin]

CAIRO -- To read the Arab press is to think that the entire Arab world is enraged with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and to some extent that's true. But here's what you don't read: Underneath the rage, there is also a grudging, skeptical curiosity -- a curiosity about whether the Americans will actually do what they claim and build a new, more liberal Iraq.

[speedy]

So now that military victory is in sight, the next phase of negativism begins. The script is already written on this one, and it will be judged an utter failure, like the fall of Communism. Glad I'm on the winning side.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

The BUSH Doctrine:

'Bringing DEMOCRACY to the Commom Man everywhere is Everyone's Answer'

WORKS.

[big gray tabby]

Friedman assists in pushing the goalposts back a mile or two more. I guess success is what Friedman says it is.

[demosthenes the elder]

no disagreement from me. I am hopeful that we will not do the usual deal with the usual headman of the usual strongest-gang-of-thugs-left-standing... hopeful, yes, but a mite skeptical.

[DannyTN]

"To begin with, there is the shock of Arab liberals"

Which is exceeded only by the shock of US liberals

[Yardstick]

*bump*

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Good article until the last sentence.

[tm22721]

American power, since the Cold War, has only been used to preserve the status quo here,

The world still doesn't get it. It's all about pre- vs post-9/11.

That's what a plane flying into a tower full of people will do to a nation.

WE ARE IN FEAR AND WE WILL EXPORT THAT FEAR UNTIL WE GET RESPECT

BUMP

[TADSLOS]

I'd say the Arab potentates and mullahs are scared s**tless by the prospects of a free and democratically governed Iraq.

[N. Theknow]

Before you know it a truly Free Iraq will have immigrants from all over the Arab world flocking to it, yearning to be Free.

Then what will we do for cab drivers?

[Ditto]

To begin with, there is the shock of Arab liberals, still a tiny minority, who can't believe that America has finally used its revolutionary power in the Arab world. They are desperate for America to succeed because they think Iraq is too big to ignore, and therefore a real election there would shake the whole Arab region.

I think the guy is exactly right. If we can help deliver some infant form of democracy to Iraq, it will shake the Arab would to its core and spell the demise of radical Islam.

It won't be an easy task, but it is doable if we are patient and determined and if we can keep the Europeans from injecting their typical real-politic compromises.

[HarryCaul]

He's right. We absolutely have to follow all the way through on this. If we don't make Iraq work, and work well, we've wasted billions of dollars and hundreds of lives.

Without real change, without real democracy, all we've done is delay. If we can give people hope for a better future, and an example of how it's done, we win for a long long time to come.

The next phase, winning the peace, is infinitely harder than winning the war.

[Ditto]

Then what will we do for cab drivers?

LOL. That would be a great problem to have.

[RJL]

There is a lot riding on that smile, Kamel added, because this is the first "Arab-American war." This is not about Arabs and Israelis. This is about America getting inside the Arab world -- not just with its power or culture, but with its ideals. It is a war for what America stands for.

He's correct, this is very important, it's too important to let the UN, France or Germany in there to screw it up.

America must finish this the American way and do it well.

[Egregious Philbin]

Friedman only seems to talk to intellectuals and students. I'm not so convinced he knows what the "street" thinks, or the "basement" or whatever...

[x1stcav]

I haven't read Friedman in years. As far as I was concerned he was just part of the negative chorus against anything American, Conservative, and Republican.

I decided that I needed to open my mind and so I read this article. Curiosity now satisfied, I plan not to read him for many years to come.

[Valin]

So now that military victory is in sight, the next phase of negativism begins.

I'm wondering if we read the same article?

[Grampa Dave]

Memo to the maggot Friedman:

STFU!

YOU AND YOUR FELLOW MAGGOTS IN BED WITH EACH OTHER AT THE NY SLIMES ARE IRRELEVANT.