19 March

By Daniel Kimmage

The United Arab Emirates' "Al-Bayan": The editors criticize U.S. President George W. Bush for administering the "coup de grace" to international diplomacy with his ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

     "As America prepares to attack Iraq, a fraternal Arab country, it tramples all international values and undermines the system of international security. The recourse to war without an international mandate harms the United Nations, rendering it worthless and meaningless. Though we know the answer, we can only ask: Who will call America to account for assassinating international diplomacy? Who will call America to account for violating the law? Unfortunately, no one. It is the sole remaining great power, with all of the military and economic weapons and advanced technologies.

     "The America that we see before us has no heart. It has given up its conscience to pursue its ambitions in defiance of the world."

Egypt's "Al-Akhbar": The editors question the validity of President Bush's request that the Iraqi military lay down its weapons and surrender.

     "...Hostility toward America is growing all over the world. This is not a victory for America, but a defeat for democracy, international legality, and international law, which will soon perish by America's hand even as it claims to be fighting terrorism. America, which claims to be a new empire, failed to create the coalition it wanted for its invasion of Iraq. The American president now makes a strange demand. He asks the Iraqi army not to fight the invaders. Army commanders who fight against America will be brought to justice as war criminals. A hypothetical question for America: Is it possible or acceptable that the American army would fail to defend its homeland if America were invaded? What then is the purpose of the army? Obviously, it exists to defend the homeland. Why should Iraq's army be an exception?

Algeria's "Al-Khabar": Al-Arbi Zawaq writes that all humanity must oppose the United States.

     "The United States has become a danger to all humanity, not merely Iraq and the Arabs. For this reason, resistance to America by all legitimate means has become the obligation of each rational person with a germ of goodness in him. Each person who understands the dangers that await humanity must resist disappointment at the seeming impossibility of confronting America's unjust power.... We face the law of the jungle -- animal, instinctive. In the age of the Internet and satellite communications, can anyone accept life under this sort of power?

Britain's "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" (pan-Arab, Saudi-owned): Samir Atallah writes that the American decision to go to war underscores the powerlessness of other countries.

     "Is there any card that Russia, France, or China can play to exert pressure and compel America even to extend the deadline for diplomatic solutions? This is not merely the age of Arab impotence, but the height of international paralysis. A country goes to war against the will of the entire international community, acting as though this were merely a stroll between the Tigris and Euphrates...."

Kuwait's "Al-Watan": Mubarak Bin Shafi al-Hajiri voices optimism at the positive changes that could result from a war in Iraq.

     "Many things will change when the war is over. Some of those who strongly opposed the war against the Iraqi regime fear those changes. But change is welcomed by those who know that the time of dictatorships is over and that the century we are living in requires broader popular participation in crucial decisions.

     "The Americans and their allies will leave after Iraq is liberated from the oppressive regime that has constrained Iraqis for so long. With the help of its citizens, Iraq will return to its natural role in the international community.

     "Our peoples do not fear this war, nor do we fear cooperation with the Americans and the West. But we fear a continuation of the backwardness, reaction, and darkness that some governments in the region impose upon their people and, through them, on us as well."