Untimely tirade

US Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks at the US-Arab Economic Forum in Detroit left much to be desired. His tone and general attitude was condescending, to put it mildly. Many delegates at the Detroit gathering felt that Powell was patronising. His claims that Iraqis need more time to draft a new constitution and that it is too early to contemplate elections are unsubstantiated. What Iraqis need more than ever is more say in the decision-making process and greater control over the vast resources of their potentially very wealthy country. To do so, US troops must evacuate the country.

Polls indicate that US President George W Bush's popularity is rapidly waning. The American public is weary of his Iraq policy. US troops are targets of the Iraqi resistance fighters, and the death toll is rising. Americans are protesting the US military involvement in Iraq as never before. They want American troops to return home.

It is against this backdrop that the comments made by Powell at the Detroit gathering were regrettable. It is especially so considering the manner in which the US pressurises even the Middle East Quartet to toe the line and adopt the Israeli-US view that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is part of the "war against terror," as was demonstrated in the Quartet statement released yesterday.

Arab-Americans are potentially a powerful constituency if politically organised. Certain vested interests in the US, and the pro-Israeli pressure groups in particular, fear the enfranchisement of Arab Americans. They view Arab Americans suspiciously as a rival lobby group competing for favours of US politicians. Arab-Americans are a three million-strong community that has come under increasing attack since 11 September. In the past month three Arab-Americans, two civilians working as translators for the US army in Guantanamo Bay, and Aburahman Al-Amoudy, founder and president of the American Muslim Foundation, were arrested by the FBI.

If Washington is serious about cultivating better ties with the Arab world, US officials should pay more attention to Arab sensibilities and heed the voices of Arab-Americans.

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 2 - 8 October 2003 (Issue No. 658)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/658/ed.htm