Is America a Friend of the Middle East?

I sent an email to Dr. Mohammad T. Al-Rasheed from Arab News last week. In honesty, it was a bit of a fan letter--I find much to admire about his writing and his thoughts. Doctor Al-Rasheed was kind enough to reply with an email that was just as thoughtful as his other writing.

One part of that email, in particular, I wanted to share with you.

Our inner turmoil in the Middle East and Saudi in particular is historic in proportion and it has spilled over to cover the innocents abroad. The brave and decent thing to do is to take the blame and responsibility for it and move forward to correct it. Are we doing that? I don't think so, at least not yet.

You see, America works out its turmoil publicaly as we see in the primaries today. We work them out in secret and in violence. That is a 'historical' fact. This should change and must change. Now if America is a friend, which I believe it is, it should help us to achieve that, much like a stronger brother stretches a hand to pull a drowning sibling from the water.

If this level of honesty continues to touch the debate, then there truly is reason to hope for the future of the Middle East. Like all things truly worth having, though, that future won't be without sacrifice and hard work.

I hope that America is that friend that he believes us to be. I hope that we'll continue to be willing to help share the burden of working to make that better future a reality.

If Clark, Dean, or Kerry were to be elected President of the United States, though, I wouldn't really count on it. When you're so focused on the exit strategy, you sometimes forget to account for the possibility of winning. When you're so focused on America as the problem, you forget to account for the possibility of America being an important part of the solution.

Posted by zombyboy at February 3, 2004 10:00 AM | TrackBack