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Reader comment on item: After Saddam? Remaking the Mideast

Submitted by Alo Kievalar (Saudi Arabia), Feb 12, 2003 at 11:37

Like his colleague at UCLA, Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl, Fouad Ajami appears to take a pro-western stance in the turbulent Middle Eastern debate swirling around us at present. Unlike the notorious Edward Said, of which the less said the better, El Fadl and Ajami place the backwardness of the Arab world squarely where it belongs, at the feet of Arab regimes, both past and present. (Edward Said places it at the foot of the Statue of Liberty).

But if you carefully read what all these gentlemen write, not a single one approaches Islam as other than a benign and misunderstood factor in the turbulence.

Said, of course, is a Christian, but Christian or not, he's an Arab down to the core. (In fact, his petulant tome "Orientalism" was largely written under the impetus of having been "treated" for years as "the foreigner" by his colleagues at Columbia). Abou El Fadl sees Islam as having been hijacked by unsavory characters and if Islam could only be cleansed of these guys, why, everyone would see the true nature of Islam……and become Muslim (!)

I'm not so sure about Fouad Ajami. He is a practicing Muslim, albeit a Shite (which perforce brings up all kinds of other issues) and his writings seldom bring Islam into focus. In a 1997 US News and World Report, however, he contended that Islam and economic reform in the Arab world are not mutually exclusive, although I don't quite understand why that would be an issue.

Anyone hearing Bin Laden's taperecording last night could hardly help but conclude that Bin Laden's Islam and that of the 3 gentlemen above are totally different entities. But they aren't.

Ajami's prescription for the Middle East is a sorcerer's potion. It's a dream. I too believe the US should invade Iraq, but not for the reasons usually stated. And I have no illusions that democracy in the Middle East could even remotely be a result of the invasion. Let's not forget that the word "democracy" does not exist in Arabic. There's a reason for this.
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Reader comments (45) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Correction: Not "Don't Be Greedy!" but "Don't Get Greedy!" [2 words]Jonathan RickJan 5, 2005 08:3419427
Deconstruct Theocracy [91 words]Don van SickleApr 21, 2003 12:078494
difficulties ahead... [16 words]p cormanyApr 17, 2003 14:458427
Time to leave Saudi?? [69 words]Mark HMar 21, 2003 16:317497
Democracy at home - Tyranny Abroad [60 words]AhmedMar 14, 2003 15:037256
The theory of intended and unintended consequences [442 words]Shfep FargotsteinMar 12, 2003 12:177201
After Saddam? Remaking the Middle East [176 words]Wahid BoctorMar 3, 2003 00:527009
Keep up the fantastic work! [20 words]Dave PryceFeb 18, 2003 01:526707
Democracy? [25 words]HarmoniaFeb 17, 2003 10:216695
Playing the "Liberation" card [510 words]Dr. Ron PollandFeb 17, 2003 09:536694
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Not OK Oday [361 words]Chas. DahlinFeb 15, 2003 15:536674
Democracy is born out of maturity [213 words]Karsten BraschFeb 15, 2003 14:396672
3Problems in the US Policy [1260 words]Aslele ZaabiFeb 14, 2003 23:176658
False Dichotomy in Postwar Planning [409 words]Todd WinteringFeb 14, 2003 16:026648
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Beyond Technicality [107 words]A HFeb 13, 2003 19:266624
Japan [113 words]M SchultehenrichFeb 13, 2003 14:316618
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I'm with Ajami [96 words]Paul M. NevilleFeb 12, 2003 19:336598
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After Saddam - One Detail You Did Not Mention [333 words]Joseph E. RendiniFeb 12, 2003 14:176591
Notes [340 words]Alo KievalarFeb 12, 2003 11:376584
After Saddam: Islam Confronts Democracy [425 words]Dave DavisFeb 11, 2003 21:306573
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We'd have to be brutal with terrorists [192 words]Catherine FFeb 11, 2003 20:326571
America's Destiny [137 words]William L. KorstadFeb 11, 2003 19:526569
Democracy's Core Value [127 words]David JacobFeb 11, 2003 19:326567
Calling the Fouad Ajami Brigade [181 words]Andreas SamsonFeb 11, 2003 17:456565
To the above poster [49 words]JeffFeb 11, 2003 16:376564
Democracy and security are inseparable. [365 words]Quin RobertsFeb 11, 2003 15:566563
Give democracy a chance [233 words]Amir ZadehFeb 11, 2003 12:336556
Arabs already have disposable divorce [66 words]GloriaFeb 11, 2003 12:326555
Strongly disagree ! [225 words]R.IsakFeb 11, 2003 11:486553
Caution in the Middle East [625 words]James M. CarterFeb 11, 2003 11:356552
Forget About Reforming Iraq -- or the Arab World [311 words]Ralph WinstanleyFeb 11, 2003 11:086551
RE: Glenn Klotz's question [173 words]Bob SamualsFeb 11, 2003 10:586550
After Iraq [96 words]John HampeFeb 11, 2003 10:556549
Not trusting the US or the UK to take a long term view :response to Ajami's view [532 words]elaine bousfieldFeb 11, 2003 10:406548
Outstanding balanced article [107 words]John S. MorganFeb 11, 2003 10:396547
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Liberals & Liberal democracy [108 words]Glenn KlotzFeb 11, 2003 09:476538
Famous Victory? [193 words]Graham Rael-BrookFeb 11, 2003 09:026537

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