Al-Ahram Weekly | Readers' corner

		26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 Readers' corner	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Logic breakdown
Sir-- "Innocent until proven guilty" is one of the few concepts that are said to be universal, accepted in all cultures and civilisations. Such a notion should be the bedrock of the United Nations and manifest in the behaviour of the international community. The recent talk of a pre-emptive strike against Iraq is diametrically opposed to the above-mentioned universal concept. Such an action has serious implications on many levels.
First, the possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) does not prove guilt, since many other nations like the US, Israel and India have huge quantities of such weapons in their possession. Why is it that possession of such weapons goes unnoticed with nations like Israel, but there is an outcry if it happens to be an Arab or a Muslim country? Some may argue that the Iraqi regime could be tried for using such weapons in the past, but then so has the US, many times, long before Saddam. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not military or strategic targets; agent orange and B52 bombs were dropped on ordinary Vietnamese population in a brutal and indiscriminate manner.
Even if Saddam were to be tried for those crimes selectively, then his accomplices should also stand trial. These include countries that supplied him with the raw materials for profit, with full knowledge of their intended usage.
Second, Nelson Mandela recently stated that unilateral US action would introduce chaos into the international situation. The US lectures the world day and night about the sanctity of the UN, but now wants to ignore the international body because it is convenient. There is also outrage and deep anger in the Islamic world, because Israel has been flouting UN resolutions since its very inception. Such selectivity only reflects the status of the UN as a convenient tool of US foreign policy, rather than a genuine international institution. Attacking a sovereign nation without a clear UN mandate would clearly violate the UN charter.
Third, if the US can carry out a pre-emptive strike against the Islamic world, then surely the same could be expected from the Islamic world in return. The US is clearly perceived as the sole financier of the leading terrorist state -- Israel; and every single US citizen is a potential F15 fighter pilot, or a cruise missile operator or CIA assassin and executioner. The Islamic world would be entitled to take similar pre-emptive measures to cut support for terrorist activities emanating from the US and Israel. This will result in the perpetual increase in the cycle of violence.
In any case to punish an entire nation for the crimes of a regime which was not elected by the masses, is itself a criminal act. The notion of a pre-emptive strike is tantamount to acting as judge, jury and executioner. A pre-emptive strike is merely a euphemism for the pre-emptive (pre- meditated) murder of the innocents. If Iraq is attacked, the Muslims of the world will not forget nor will they forgive.
Yamin Zakaria
London
UK

Compounding matters
Sir-- In my opinion, the proposed military attack against the people of Iraq is wrong. Apart from the fact that it will involve causing great suffering to the children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled, it will also play into the hands of extremist groups like Al-Qa'eda.
All terrorists try to ascertain the mood and point of view of the people and then claim to agree with the ideals being expressed. In this way, they encourage people to support the terrorists' "cause". Consequently, any attack by the US and Britain, especially if given the backing of the Israeli government, will actually make things worse, not better.
David Hyland
Clara
Ireland

Sensible coverage
Sir-- I love your newspaper. The UK press can be so biased towards the Israeli side, although the British people generally don't support what the Israelis are doing in Palestine or the imminent attack on Iraq.
It is so good to be able to access sensible news from the Middle East instead of propaganda. Even the BBC fails to fill in the whole picture often. The only exception we have is The Independent. I also like your historical features and arts reviews.
Keep up the good work.
Julie Sale
London
UK

Self-destructive policies
Sir-- I am greatly disgusted at the issue of Iraq. What is happening/will happen to the Middle East very soon may be well-deserved after all. While Arab states publicly oppose an attack on Iraq, some of them (eg Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar) are actively participating in the preparation for war, by allowing the US to increase the number of troops and other military assets in their countries; Jordan has allowed a significant number of military assets to remain in the country; Turkey has sent about 5,000 troops into the northern part of Iraq and has occupied a base in Mosul; and there is now a significant number of American troops in Kurdish areas of Iraq; Iran has activated the Shi'ite militias.
All in all there are about 50,000 US/British troops surrounding Iraq, most of them in countries opposing a war -- such as Kuwait. A few days ago, a rather massive aerial attack was conducted against Iraq from bases in the region.
Now, frankly speaking, what would you call this kind of behaviour?
Joaquim Soares
Stockholm
Sweden

Better days ahead
Sir-- Thank you for being here to provide me with another viewpoint to contrast with the official and financially-biased view presented on US television and popular media. I accept the consequences (probably my name and e-mail will be captured and monitored by my country's intelligence apparatus) of posting my letter to you. It is because I can no longer silently observe my country's hubris.
The events of 9/11 compelled me to learn as much as I can about Islam and current world events. It is my opinion that within a decade there will be a new world order. After a period of mass killing and economic chaos, a new world will emerge and for those who survive, it will be more just. 9/11 has demonstrated that those who exercise power, anywhere in this world, had better be worthy of their position.
Recent events have merely reinforced my own prognosis. The cards are being dealt, the stage is being prepared for the end of this age. Hopefully those who emerge in power will not forget that they have the privilege and the responsibility to pause and recall, before they speak, before they exercise power, that they represent all humanity, especially the least powerful. If they forget this noble calling, they will do so at their own peril.
So God, your God and my God are one, God will ensure that the meek shall inherit this earth. I look forward to the time when I can again be proud to have been raised and educated in the USA, for in spite of our official hypocrisy, and our unofficial corporate strategy to starve and intimidate the world's humanity to aggrandise parochial (USA) power, it is the country which has permitted the ideals to be broadcast which will ultimately prevail in the just world to come.
John Harvey
Philadelphia, PA
USA

Give and take
Sir-- The essence of the 9/11 attack boils down to who attacked and who should do something about the attack. We, as a country, are young in the age of world governments. But, we cannot just stand around and condemn ourselves for the attacks with much validity. The truth of the attacks lies in the mere fact that innocent people died because of reprisal. The reprisal for the attacks cannot be leveled at innocent people for justice.
The misuse of people is a natural format for the oppressor. Why should any religion be used to foment hatred, justly or unjustly? My contention is that the need for understanding is tantamount to the solution. But, the leveling of blame does nothing to unravel the injustice of actions of anyone.
Our form of government needs some injection of honesty so the results are more real and less political. So, why not propose that we as Americans become more active in electing persons who have a real message to the country in general? On the international scene, the Third World countries ask for our help, but the truth comes from them helping themselves.
No one benefits from taking from one and giving to another. Rather, the receiver must find how to enlist the means of depravity into fruitful enterprise. There is no other country in the world that has shared as much as the US. Maybe, we have to learn how to give more, but first, I believe the receivers of help have to learn how to receive more judiciously.
Arthur Susmann
Rutland, VT
USA

Pipe dreams?
Sir-- The Middle East has been floating for eras in a volatile environment, driven mainly by the US biased and unconditional support of Israel. On the other hand, by default, as the US is a big melting pot, I strongly believe that the majority of American citizens have a great tolerance to other nations and ethnic groups, and are great believers in the value of justice, peace and freedom.
Is it possible that we can see a real change in US foreign policy, driven mainly by the American people's awareness of what is going on outside their homeland, and a growing consciousness of what their administration is contributing to the misery of other nations? Is it possible that the administrations to come are not lobbied by the pro- Israel economists and media, and can assume a genuine role in promoting stability and prosperity in this region?
Maybe I have gone too far in my expectations, but for the time being, I think it's the only way out.
Omar Hilal
Cairo
Egypt

Nonsense talk
Sir-- The article 'Lessons unlearned' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 September) is utter nonsense. Would you "learn a lesson" if your wife was raped and the rapist politely informed you that it was your fault, for letting her walk about and that she should stay home? Does anyone "learn lessons" from a murderer or a rapist? This idea that America should undertake "lessons" like a pupil at the knee of "professor Osama" is Arab stupidity in its purest form.
John Downs
Doha
Qatar

Tipping the balance
Sir-- As the reporter of "Killing deliberately, 'by mistake'' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 5-11 September), Khaled Amayreh should state both sides of the issue. He paints only one story: the Israeli killers. You are wrong. Write about all those people who are killed on buses while going to work, restaurants, hotels, houses, schools, open streets; all innocent people who are not in the military.
You Arabs have angered a giant (Israel) and have done enough damage to yourselves, more than Israel could ever do to you. For the record, I am neither a Jew nor do I agree with everything going on there, but I do understand that they must do everything in their power to crush Hamas, Hizbullah, Al-Aqsa Brigades, and any other terrorist organisation. Why don't your fellow Muslims help Palestine? All these years you people never cared about them, so why now? When you respect yourselves, the "civilised world" (the West) may start to show respect to Arabs for reasons other than their oil.
Try to be objective and report fair and balanced news to your readers.
John Collins
Washington, DC
USA

Root cause
Sir-- I am embarassed by some of the uninformed mouthings in Readers' Corner from my fellow countrymen and women. Over and over, I read from American letter writers that your publication is one-sided, and "why don't you present Israel's perspective too?" Well, first, Israel's "perspective" dominates the media in our country; what we need is less of Israel's perspective and much more of the Palestinian perspective.
Second, the situation in the Middle East is a textbook example of one of the most fundamental forms of injustice. People criticise the suicide bombings, but please understand that the colonialism, racism and Apartheid inflicted on the Palestinian people is the cause of the suicide bombings and the violence on both sides. The sooner Americans stop allowing themselves to be side-tracked by the one-sided Israeli perspective presented in our media, the sooner we can exert the influence we have to help lift the injustices inflicted upon the Palestinians. Only this can make the Middle East a safe, viable and prosperous home for both Palestinians and Israelis.
Leah Lunsford
Atlanta, GA
USA

Immediate redirect
Sir-- I am an Arab-American originally from Palestine. I was very perplexed to watch President Bush give his speech justifying the attack on Iraq, because it ignored UN and Security Council resolutions. I wondered where were our great Arab heads of state to demand to Bush's face and in front of the whole world that Israel should be held accountable for consistently ignoring all UN and Security Council resolutions. President Bush said that the relevancy of the United Nations is at stake. Does that only apply to the weak Arab countries, but not to Israel? We need leaders who are brave enough to raise their voices against American double standards. This should not only be done for local consumption, but directly and on the spot at UN and Security Council meetings.
Mustafa Shamy
New Jersey
USA

Filtering the Fascists
Sir-- I think the people of Egypt will benefit greatly from Saddam being removed from power. This will begin the step-by-step process of removing the other tyrants from power in your region. Once they are all gone, the Islamists -- who make your country such a living hell -- will realise they have nowhere else to go; they will no longer get big cash subsidies from Saudi Arabia, Iran or Iraq; and cannot impose their extremist agenda on the rest of Egypt. They will realise that they will have to study practical things, acquire real professions, and that they can no longer make a living reciting religious claptrap and fomenting violence.
It is unfortunate that this whole process of modernising your region and turning back extremist Islam is going to take a generation or two. The reality is that so many people in your region have had their minds poisoned by the propaganda pouring out of the mosques and institutions like Islamic universities, to the extent that this poisoned generation has to yield to the next generation, before change can start to take effect. Apparently this is already happening in Iran, and young people there are fed up with the dictatorial and corrupt rule of the mullahs.
If you fail to stand up and get rid of these Fascists, outside forces may do it for you, which I do not think is what you want.
Peter Behard
New York
USA

Beyond the surface
Sir-- Ahmed Maher's interview 'Double standards don't work' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 September) was good. As an Egyptian residing in the US and hearing that war between the US and Iraq may be around the corner, I hope that the Arab people will not look at the surface and look deeper to the effect of the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein.
We must obey international law and the rules of the United Nations in order to live in a better world. Let us hope to avoid a war which will result in the killing of more civilians and human beings.
M Gahed
Ohio
USA

Learning the lesson
Sir-- Thank you for the courage you have illustrated in confronting the problems within. As a Canadian, of greatest concern to me when trying to understand the perceptions many in the Middle East have of Westerners, is why the madrassas are allowed to twist and distort the truth about Western society in such a way as to perpetuate and plant seeds of dissent and hatred within the young and impressionable minds of the Arab youth. Although I am not a Muslim, I have read the Qur'an and believe that the fundamental tenets of Islam are tolerance and acceptance of the other. It seems to me there is far less focus on these important principles, than there is on condemnation of non- believers.
The history of Western societies is rife with this same mistake -- the holy Crusade is just one example. I believe that we as Western democracies have learned, and continue to learn from our mistakes with regards to religious intolerance, and hope that the Arab world will be able to do the same.
Jarrod Denure
Chatham
Canada

Treacherous Blair
Sir-- Tony Blair is already a murderer many thousands of times over. He is sought for war crimes in the former Yugoslav Republic where, as their Iraqi counterparts, countless numbers of children suffer cancers and deformities caused by uranium-depleted bombs and Tomahawk missiles dispatched by the Royal Air Force. He also faces prosecution by human rights groups for his executive role in the carefully coordinated slaughter of over 400 prisoners of war at Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. Estimates vary, but some figures suggest that between 40 and 60 prisoners were tortured before being shot in the back of the head by SAS and CIA operatives.
Blair's blood lust for Iraq in recent weeks continues, notwithstanding threats of resignation from his cabinet and warnings by advisors that his support of the American president, is damaging the Labour Party and diminishing his prospects of re- election. One is tempted to ask the question: is he being blackmailed? Does America's National Security Agency have something on file that would, if made public, fatally damage Tony Blair and his ruling Labour Party?
The message put out to the powerful supranational Anglo-American elite is unmistakable: public opinion no longer counts and the electorate has no choice in determining important world- changing events, because political opposition (US Democrats and British Tories) play the game according to the same pre-rigged rules. The "blood price" has a fixed value, is non-negotiable and, at an esoteric level, represents ongoing reparations inherent in the post-1917 relationship between the American Republic and the British Crown. You may call it a 'special relationship', but I call it high treason. And the penalty for high treason in the United Kingdom is death by hanging.
Michael James
Friedrichsdorf
Germany

A policy re-visited
Sir-- You may not be aware that this is not the first attempt of an administration in Washington to make "terrorism" the focus of opprobrium. During the Reagan era a number of progressive organisations in the United States, such as the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), were defined as "terrorist". This was an attempt to stifle domestic criticism of Reagan's Latin American and Caribbean policy, which involved at least three military adventures into other countries' affairs -- the invasion of Grenada, the invasion of Panama and the proxy war in Nicaragua.
The events on 9/11 were, of course, much more dramatic and devastating, but the Bush administration's anti-terrorist reaction after 9/11 was quite similar, though on a much larger scale than the Reagan administration's reaction to the situation in the Western Hemisphere back then.
Keep up the good work.
Eugene Glickman
Brooklyn, NY
USA

CIA trickster
Sir-- Regarding your interview entitled 'A semantic game' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 September) with Scott Ritter. There is an old saying that once you are on the CIA payroll, you never leave it. If the Arab world wants to believe that Scott Ritter has really done a 180-degree turnaround, it just proves how much you misjudge the USA. This guy is as red, white and blue as anyone in the USA, and if you don't think he is messing with Saddam's head, then fine. I think that when he comes out of the closet, and reveals his true colours -- that this was all a cover-up in an attempt to try to squeeze any information he could get -- I will be laughing my head off.
You guys can't be this gullible. On second thought, maybe you are. If you really think Israel had anything to do with 11 September, after all of the hard smoking-gun evidence, and the confessions by Bin Laden, then you will believe anything.
Shep Fargostein
Nashville, TN
USA

Aswan charm
Sir-- Wonderful to read the item on the history of Elephantine Island 'Guardians of the Southern gate' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 5-11 September). I have visited the island twice and have a photo of the Nilometre placed magnetically on my refrigerator door, so I visit the island daily. Aswan is a most beautiful city with very friendly people. May it prosper.
Joyce Miller
Auckland
New Zealand

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