A Review of Why We Are In Iraq, Part I

Although the mainstream press likes to portray our President as ‘not too bright’, I would submit that he understands what the civilized world is facing, and what must be done to save it, better than any journalist or academic does, and that his rationales for a pre-emptive strike into Iraq continue to make excellent geo-political sense – even as we struggle to contain the violence that is endemic to the entire region. The opposition to President Bush’s Iraq policy can be seen as stemming from four causes:

1 opposition to any and all of the President’s policies based on blind hatred of him. No facts or logic can overcome this, and I won’t try.
2. a desire to defeat the President to gain political power. In some, this overcomes patriotism and a desire to do what is best for this country, but I will assume that some Democrats will put their country first if convinced that a particular policy is wise.
3. an unfamiliarity with the history of the Middle East and the root causes of the terrorism emanating from there.
4. an honest belief that it is a mistake, or that its goals are beyond our capability.

Let’s put aside the arguments over weapons of mass destruction and the need to protect the oil routes for a moment and focus on rationales for the invasion of Iraq that have gained much less attention and discussion – the need to break the vicious cycles that have been occurring there in that part of the world.

A great speech was given two years ago by Haim Harari, former President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. It was a very long speech, and I am going to excerpt part of his speech here and part of it in a future posting.

WorldThreats.com
"As you know, I usually provide the scientific and technological "entertainment" in our meetings, but, on this occasion, our Chairman suggested that I present my own personal view on events in the part of the world from which I come. I have never been and I will never be a Government official and I have no privileged information. My perspective is entirely based on what I see, on what I read and on the fact that my family has lived in this region for almost 200 years. You may regard my views as those of the proverbial taxi driver, which you are supposed to question, when you visit a country.

I could have shared with you some fascinating facts and some personal thoughts about the Israeli-Arab conflict. However, I will touch upon it only in passing. I prefer to devote most of my remarks to the broader picture of the region and its place in world events. I refer to the entire area between Pakistan and Morocco, which is predominantly Arab, predominantly Moslem, but includes many non-Arab and also significant non-Moslem minorities.

Why do I put aside Israel and its own immediate neighborhood? Because Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilians in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endanger Saudi Arabia and butcher his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on.

The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel would have joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine would have existed for 100 years. The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion. They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe. These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone. Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers. The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago. Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission. According to a report prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the U.N., the number of books translated by the entire Arab world is much smaller than what little Greece alone translates. The total number of scientific publications of 300 million Arabs is less than that of 6 million Israelis. Birth rates in the region are very high, increasing the poverty, the social gaps and the cultural decline. And all of this is happening in a region, which only 30 years ago, was believed to be the next wealthy part of the world, and in a Moslem area, which developed, at some point in history, one of the most advanced cultures in the world.

It is fair to say that this creates an unprecedented breeding ground for cruel dictators, terror networks, fanaticism, incitement, suicide murders and general decline. It is also a fact that almost everybody in the region blames this situation on the United States, on Israel, on Western Civilization, on Judaism and Christianity, on anyone and anything, except themselves.”
Haim Harari

Iraq is a messy place right now, but the terrorists have basically gathered here in Iraq rather than in the United States because Iraq is the battleground WE have picked to start to fight this battle, and Iraq is the place where the conditions described by Mr. Harari are starting to be changed. These changes can not be brought about without a major mess being made along the way, but before these brutes get their hands on nuclear weapons, these changes must be made. Pray God there is time and that the elites in the USA who are opposing every effort in their ignorance do not succeed. Stay tuned for the next installment, or go here to read the entire speech.