Arabs are people, too -- it's time for diplomacy
IT IS tempting to look at the war in Iraq from the simplistic standpoint of the good versus the bad. Unfortunately, war is rarely simplistic and the war Iraq is no exception.
The current civil conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims represents a struggle for power in a country that has long been controlled by the Sunni. Eventually this civil conflict will be resolved, but Arab animosity toward us will persist and Arabs will continue in their struggle to drive us out of the Middle East.
Al-Qaida are radical Muslim terrorists who come from numerous countries in the Arab world. Although the majority of Muslims do not openly support al-Qaida, they accept them as a counterforce against an encroaching civilization.
We are a symbol of that civilization. Our culture is tempting and appealing to anyone in any culture, and it is most certainly a threat to Arab culture. Globalism eventually will result in the blending of all cultures, which the most powerful will dominate. Arabs don't want to be dominated. They want us to go away, which unfortunately for them is not going to happen. We will continue to buy their oil. They will use our dollars to buy cars, electronics, computers, Internet access and western magazines, all of which will infect and change Arab culture.
In the process, more will die if we continue to use military power to spread democracy and protect our oil interests.
In his book "The Arrogance of Power," Sen. J. William Fulbright recommended a different strategy: one of diplomacy, compromise, mutual respect and understanding. Fulbright published his book during the early years of the Vietnam War when everything seemed to be going well for us. His recommendation took courage. Such a strategy would make us appear weak in the international community. His book predicted the hard road ahead as well as the policy that we eventually would be forced to accept.
GREG MORTINSON is an American nurse who started schools for girls in remote mountain communities of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this work and in his book, "Three Cups of Tea," he provides us with a living example of Fulbright's vision. Mortinson describes the importance of building relationships: taking the time to know and to respect the way people in other societies live. To share knowledge and also to receive knowledge makes us a better people.
Caricatures of Muslim prophets in the news media are a good example of what we should not be doing. The fact that we have the right to do something doesn't necessarily mean that it is right to do it.
Arabs are an intelligent people capable of great generosity, compassion and understanding. They were the caretakers of science during the Dark Ages of the Western world. Much of what we know in science and medicine comes from them. Arabs introduced us to the great philosophers. Civilization probably originated in the area east of the Mediterranean, in the heart of the Arab world.
DURING THE time that I spent in Iraq, I came to know several Iraqi people. Although they dressed differently and spoke a different language, their thoughts and feelings are the same as our own. I recall an elderly Iraqi man who was grieving the loss of his son. The fact that his son was an insurgent and had attempted to kill American soldiers did not lesson his pain.
I wondered how I might feel if my son were killed at such an early age. Just the thought was intolerable; the reality would be unbearable. There has to be something better than this endless killing.
There must be. It's time for diplomacy.
Gerald Evans, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is a veteran of the war in Iraq. He lives in Mililani.