The pictures of Saddam Hussein’s statue being torn down were broadcast everywhere yesterday, including the Arab world. I heard a very salient interview on NPR at that time with an Arab commentator. The questions: what was the Arab reaction to the TV images of Iraqi joy? What did the Arab news media say about all this?
The commentator said that the Arab reaction was confusion. The Arab commentary said one thing (America interferes), but the images spoke more clearly than anything else to the Iraqi liberation.
I think that the Arab world cannot help but dislike the United States, but they must also feel deep down some shame and frustration. They must be thinking “How did it get this bad in the country of our brothers that the infidels became Iraq’s saviors?” I think it’s vital at this point that The US show respect for the true country of Iraq: the liberated people we saw yesterday.
On a somewhat related note, this is tremendously embarrassing for the French, Germans, and Russians (mostly for the French, but I can’t explain why–it’s just a gut feeling). They’re in the position of looking like either dunces or cowards as far as this conflict goes: they were either ignorant of the true Iraqi situation or worse yet, ignored it. Yes, I know they could have had true antiwar reasons for their stance, but somehow I don’t think so. France at least had its fingers in the Iraqi pie. We may never know the true whys and wherefores behind this conflict, but it’s good to see this signal from the Iraqi people that some good may come of this.