|
< < <
Date Index > > > |
Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: In Search for Democracy, U.S. Is Rejected as a Guide by Threehegemons 29 September 2002 02:26 UTC |
< < <
Thread Index > > > |
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by swsystem@aol.com. In Search for Democracy, U.S. Is Rejected as a Guide September 28, 2002 By JANE PERLEZ AL AIN, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 23 - Logically, the women in the political science class at the university here should be among America's best friends in the Arab world. They live in an oil-rich nation whose leaders have recently bought billions of dollars in American high-tech weapons. Under their long black Islamic robes, they wear stylish clothes. They speak fervently of wanting democracy, and chafe under the tradition of autocratic rule. But like many educated people in the more open Persian Gulf nations, they say any war against Iraq would be a war against them, not for them. Although they refer to Saddam Hussein as a dictator, they resent Washington's supposition that a liberated Baghdad will result in democracy for Iraq, as well as for them. Most emphatically, they insist that a conflict will breed more extremism, not less. They are no longer sure whether America is friend or foe. During an animated discussion in the cool of an air-conditioned classroom on the desert campus here of the United Arab Emirates University, Thamina al-Sheraifi, 22, summed up: "The war will create the same thing as Sept. 11. It will create more Osama bin Ladens. America didn't learn from Sept. 11. They can't understand that what happened is because of their ugly policies in this region." Many of the Arabs who normally consider themselves well disposed toward the United States say they have become increasingly alienated in the past six months. Point by point, they struggle with the main tenets of the Bush arguments on Iraq: pre-emption, disarmament and democracy. They argue with passion, their views sharpened by what they consider the unquestioning American support of Israel against the Palestinians in a conflict that has been dramatized on televisions in Arab living rooms. America versus Iraq will surely result in more bloody images, they say, making plain where their feelings will lie: with the Iraqi people. "I respect the United States," said Hamda el-Mari, 22. "People in the United States have rights. In my country, we can't have rights. I would like to vote. But our culture, our religion is different. We don't want an imposed democracy. We want a democracy according to our culture." Al-Otaiba Rowda, 22, a fluent English speaker who recalled a visit to San Francisco with affection, said: "It seems America always needs an enemy. Now Islam is the enemy." Their professor, Ebitsam Suhail al-Kitbi, was most concerned about the doctrine of pre-emption. "The war against Iraq will set the example," said Mrs. Kitbi, who spent several months last year on a Fulbright scholarship at George Washington University in Washington. "If America doesn't like a regime in the area, it will change it. If the regime is not suitable for American policy, they will change it." The result: "There will be more extremists - either Islamic or nationalist." The Emirates is one of the least repressed societies in the gulf region. With the flashy port city of Dubai and a capital of hereditary riches at Abu Dhabi, it is also one of the wealthiest nations. It ranks third, after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, in oil reserves, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Women are allowed to drive, and some hold good jobs. The three million residents - three-quarters of them foreign workers - are ruled by a monarchy that last year paid $6.4 billion for 80 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets. The nation seeks to use American technology to protect itself against Iran, its traditional foe. But like other small gulf countries, including neighboring Bahrain, the Emirates is only edging toward change. Women have not yet been appointed to the National Consultative Assembly, and after a free-wheeling discussion in the classroom, the students declined to have their photographs taken. "They will kill us," one exclaimed, referring to the university authorities. In Bahrain, which is home to the United States Navy Fifth Fleet, there is also sharp opposition to the White House's war plans. The State Department director of policy planning, Richard N. Haass, who is touring the Arab world this week to listen to Arab views, has included Bahrain on his itinerary. He is likely to get an earful, several Bahrainis said. "A war will prepare the ground for more hatred toward the United States," said Sabika al-Najjar, secretary general of the Bahrain Human Rights Society. "It will create more than one bin Laden. From the ruins of the war, feeling against the United States will increase." Dr. Najjar said she doubted the American military would be able to avoid extensive civilian casualties. Mr. Hussein will try to ensure the worst, to play on regional Arab sympathies, she added. "They are our people," she said of the Iraqis. Of the pre-emption doctrine, she said: "We are not defending Saddam Hussein. But it's not for the American government to decide whether he goes or not." There is widespread skepticism about the threat from Mr. Hussein's weapons, and questions about why he was a target now, 11 years after the 1991 Persian Gulf war. "We're not kids to be told every two days, `We have the evidence but we can't show you now,' as though we are not to be trusted," said Habib Toumi, the assistant editor of The Bahrain Tribune, an English-language newspaper. In high school Mr. Toumi spent time in New Jersey as an exchange student. People said they were uneasy about the approach of their rulers - who would publicly deny their support for the United States but in the end would go along. The reasons were stark: the small nations feel preyed upon by their bigger neighbors, they said. A cartoon in a Bahraini paper this week summed up these feelings of inadequacy. The cartoonist sketched an outsized pistol pointed at the United States. On closer inspection, the weapon was a water pistol. A few drops dripped from the muzzle. "Arab weakness encourages the United States to attack Iraq," said the outspoken political science student, Ms. Sheraifi. "We can use the oil weapons, we can use diplomacy. But there is no unity." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/28/international/middleeast/28GULF.html?ex=1034213743&ei=1&en=656f9817e608c69e HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
|
< < <
Date Index > > > |
World Systems Network List Archives at CSF | Subscribe to World Systems Network |
< < <
Thread Index > > > |