PLATFORM : Iraq’s Next Prize?

There are several super-Arab nationalist cliques--the Egyptian intellectuals, some government officials and intellectuals in Yemen, some Jordanians, Syrians--who are looking for a superman to save them from economic and political ruin. And they do not think carefully about who he is. The very people who applaud him today may be his victims tomorrow.

The West has been concerned predominantly with its economic interests (in the region). They have not made a stand for religious or political freedoms, but worry more if they have to pay $28 or $18 for a barrel of oil. By couching America’s mission in economic terms, we may end up alienating the very people we are trying to save. We may find ourselves with very ungrateful recipients of U.S. military assistance. I have certain fears that if the United States and others do not succeed in ending the invasion, then Saddam Hussein will go after another prize. The West has stopped him, so far, from entering Saudi Arabia. I wonder when will he try again. And who will defend Jordan?