Arab World Press on American Elections
Nov. 10, 2006 — -- Excerpts from opinion pages in the Arab world.
In an Op-Ed called, "They Have Deserted George W. Bush," Jihad al Khazen writes that American voters have deserted George W. Bush and the Republican Party. He adds that they condemned the war on Iraq, and rejected official corruption and the deterioration of the economic policy. For al Khazen, the vote is a sign that Americans have buried the phrase "stay the course."
Al Khazen also brings up President Bush's statement that, "I've heard the Democrats. I'm sure you have, too. If you listen for their plan on Iraq, they don't have one."
He then argues that this statement implies three or four lies -- including the suggestions that Bush has a plan, that it is succeeding, that the Democrats do not have a plan, and the implication that the Democrats cannot be trusted with the management of the war, and that they are not tough enough to fight terrorism.
He claims that Bush's only plan was the stubbornness of the phrase "stay the course," even when he saw Iraq being destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people slain, along with about 3,000 American and allied soldiers.
He says that he is not accusing George W. Bush of anything, though he believes the Arab world has paid the price for his ignorance on Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and elsewhere. He goes on to say that like the Iraqis, the American voters have reasons for distancing themselves from Republicans and their values.
Samir Atallah writes that Bush fell victim to a number of people who have a lot of stubbornness and little wisdom. He claims that Donald Rumsfeld is one of them. He refers to the hawks who banished anyone who called for patience and calm. Finally, he argues that Bush should have gotten rid of Rumsfeld instead of Powell.
Josepf Samaha writes that what Condoleezza Rice called "thousands of tactical mistakes" in Iraq, have turned into an enormous "fiasco" causing great human and financial losses to America. The news about the blow to Bush, he says, has been a great relief to the majority of the world. He then wonders if America will go toward reconciliation and what will be the fair share of reconciliation from the Arab world.
