by THOMAS FRIEDMAN
As the decision on Iraq approaches, I, like so many Americans, have had to ask myself: What do you really think? Today I explain why I think liberals under-appreciate the value of removing Saddam Hussein. And on Sunday I will explain why conservatives under-appreciate the risks of doing so — and how we should balance the two.
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What liberals fail to recognize is that regime change in Iraq is not some distraction from the war on Al Qaeda. That is a bogus argument. And simply because oil is also at stake in Iraq doesn’t make it illegitimate either. Some things are right to do, even if Big Oil benefits.
Although President Bush has cast the war in Iraq as being about disarmament — and that is legitimate — disarmament is not the most important prize there. Regime change is the prize. Regime transformation in Iraq could make a valuable contribution to the war on terrorism, whether Saddam is ousted or enticed into exile.
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We have partners. Trust me, there is a part of every young Arab today that recoils at the idea of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, because of its colonial overtones. But there is a part of many young Arabs today that prays the U.S. will not only oust Saddam but all other Arab leaders as well.
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— a region desperately in need of a progressive model that works.
And liberals need to take heed. Just by mobilizing for war against Iraq, the U.S. has sent this region a powerful message: We will not leave you alone anymore to play with matches, because the last time you did, we got burned. Just the threat of a U.S. attack has already prompted Hezbollah to be on its best behavior in Lebanon (for fear of being next). And it has spurred Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah to introduce a proposal to his fellow Arab leaders for an “Arab Charter” of political and economic reform.
Let me sum up my argument with two of my favorite sayings. The first is by Harvard’s president, Lawrence Summers, who says: **“In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car.” **It is true of countries as well. Until the Arab peoples are given a real ownership stake in their countries — a real voice in how they are run — they will never wash them, never improve them as they should.
The second is an American Indian saying — “If we don’t turn around now, we just may get where we’re going.” The Arab world has been digging itself into a hole for a long time. If our generation simply helps it stop digging, possibly our grandchildren and its own will reap the benefits. But if we don’t help the Arabs turn around now, they just may get where they’re going — a dead end where they will produce more and more undeterrables.
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Comments: This article is very Un-Friedman, anyway if the whole buildup thing is to change the regime in Iraq then at least the US should help all the groups ready to throw out the Saudi and Kuwaitis illegitimate Amirs.
Friedman is showing such pain for the arab youth and still he fails to mentions that the repressive regimes which are imposed upon them are all supported by the US and it allies. He forgets to tell the story of Algiers’s 91 elections, but he mentions a lot about the Islamic terrorists from Algiers. US, EU never said a single word about those results, no sanctions from EU or any thing. He even fails to mention the recent elections in Egypt, where night before elections the majority of opposition candidates were arrested. So the freedom Friedman is talking about is not by choice but an option.
But one has to ask if nobody washes a rented car, why is somebody willing to change its oil? may be the guy who rented it thinks that he owns it.
“If we don’t turn around now, we just may get where we’re going.”
I just wish this saying goes for all not just the arabs.