An article from the Al Jazeera web site...
(Because the Address has "&" signs in it, you will have to cut and paste the address into a new browser to view to actual web site.)
| Arab street finds capitulation hard to swallow | ||
The Arab world was in shock and denial on Thursday after Baghdad fell almost without a fight, bringing to an end President Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule. "I am very sad. All of Egypt is sad. My wife was weeping this morning," said Adel Farouq, a 45-year-old Egyptian taxi driver. Semari Ahmed, a Tunis history teacher, said: "I hear people asking angrily why Saddam's forces 'crumbled like a biscuit under US troops'. That outcome is logical. Saddam's artificial support was a result of a culture of hypocrisy, not conviction." From the Atlantic to the Arabian Gulf, television images of crowds rejoicing at cheering US Marines toppling a Saddam statue in central Baghdad, broadcast repeatedly since Wednesday afternoon, caused consternation and a sense of shame. The fact that there was little resistance to the US troops that entered Baghdad from all directions sparked Arab speculation that senior leaders might have struck a deal with the Americans.
"I still cannot believe that the Americans entered Baghdad this easily. If a deal was struck with Saddam, then that proves that he staked his people and the hopes of all Arabs in order to survive," said Yahya Kahla, a teacher in Sanaa, capital of Yemen. "He is one of the traitors we have known throughout history and he will not be the last." Palestinians watching the Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi satellite stations were stunned at seeing the giant Saddam statue tumble in a Baghdad square after the rapid collapse of Iraq's military. "This is a tragedy and a bloody comedy. We cannot believe what we see. What happened? It seems that the Iraqis have given up Baghdad without a fight. Where is the Iraqi army? Have they evaporated?" said Walid Salem, a Ramallah shopkeeper. Ali Jaddah, an engineer, said: "It's a day of shame. On this day Arabs have become slaves. The only man who dared to say 'no' to the Americans' face has vanished today. What is left is a bunch of bowing and scraping Arab leaders." Many Arabs equate the Palestinians' plight under Israeli occupation with the Iraqis' new situation under US and British military invasion. Anti-war banners have often featured joined Iraqi and Palestinian flags. But some people said Saddam's fall should be a warning to other Arab leaders. "What happened in Baghdad must be taken into consideration by Arab rulers because the people are the ones who defend a country, and if they are tortured and their honour is violated then they will be the first to abandon it," said Hussein Taher, a 37-year-old private sector employee in Saudi Arabia. Egyptian political commentator Salama Ahmed Salama told Reuters: "The gap between Arab governments and the people represents a source of anxiety for different Arab regimes. But whether they'll learn the lesson or not, I don't know." Lesson to others? The Iraqi example showed that the backing of a party, clique or tribe was not enough to sustain a legitimate government. "The scene of the statue being brought down showed how Iraqis were dissatisfied with (Saddam's) regime. Maybe this is going to be a lesson and an example to other Arab leaders who consider themselves as gods," said Ali Hassan, a shopper in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Some Arab broadcasters made a point of telling viewers Saddam's demise was the end of a unique tyranny, not a precedent for other states ruled by unelected monarchs or autocrats. "The Iraqi situation is exceptional, we can't compare it with Iran or Egypt...or a country like Saudi Arabia. This is...a regime outside history," Saudi commentator Jamal Khashoggi said. While Kuwaitis -- occupied by Iraq in 1990 -- shared in the celebration, the toppling of Saddam's monument looked different in many Arab countries to the way it was seen in the West. To many, it was an act of imperial conquest by an outside power rather than an act of liberation. When an American marine placed a U.S. flag over the statue's face, a commentator on Al Jazeera, the most widely watched Arab satellite TV station, remarked: "Everything that happens from now on will have an American smell." Pro-western Morocco's state TV channel 2M gave wide play in to images of looting, cheerful Iraqis dancing on the destroyed statue of Saddam and refugees fleeing the capital. But many other Arab media focused on the civilian casualties thronging overwhelmed Iraqi hospitals, as well as journalists killed by US tank and missile fire in Baghdad. "The Jordanian people are astounded by the images of US tanks rolling into Baghdad and statues of Saddam Hussein being brought down, because they believed that the Iraqi capital would resist a long time," a political analyst told AFP. Engineer Samir Ezzat, 37, bitterly watched television broadcasts from Iraq showing scenes of jubilant Iraqis dancing in the streets of Baghdad. "I am sad because the liberation of the Iraqi people was done at the hands of the Americans who were only motivated by their own interests and not the welfare of the Iraqi people," Ezzat said. Businessman Ziad Shannak found the developments in Baghdad hard to swallow. "Once more the Arabs have been humiliated and deceived like the crushing defeat we faced during the 1967 war with Israel, despite the thunderous promises of victory Nasser made," he said of the former Egyptian leader. --- Compiled from agency reports |
