27 April

By Daniel Kimmage

Lebanon's "Al-Nahar": Salim Mashkur looks at the difficulties facing Iran after the war in Iraq.

     "What happened in Iraq has brought Iranians face to face with a reality they cannot confront with mere slogans or claims that Iran cannot influence what is happening. It has occasioned urgent meetings far from the public eye among the leadership to discuss the appropriate policy for this stage in order to remove any pretext for Washington to direct its arrows at Iran now that it has finished with Iraq.

     "Yet the Iranians feel confident that, at least for now, they will not be the target of the American advance in the region, even in the political sense. Washington is currently distracted by Syria, which entails an involvement in the Arab-Israeli issue as a whole. This will take some time, and Iran can use that time to put a distance between itself and American aims. Nevertheless, American pressure on Damascus is also pressure on Lebanon's Hizballah, which translates into a blow against Iran's main center of regional influence."

Oman's "Oman": Muhammad bin Mubarak al-Arimi sees a dangerous "domino theory" at work in the Arab world.

     "We neither exaggerate nor stray into falsehood if we claim that the Arab countries brought on themselves the confluence of internal and external forces now at play in the Arab world, as well as the spectacle of new lifestyles so evident in recent days, especially in Iraq. The Arab world always blames changing times when it is itself to blame -- the Arab world that was silent when Iraq was struck down, the Arab world that will be silent when Damascus is struck down, the Arab world that will say nothing when the hour strikes for other Arab countries in the Gulf region and elsewhere. The domino theory continues. The Arab and Islamic countries are lined up one after the other, awaiting their turn so that what happened to Iraq and Afghanistan can happen to them in the next stage of the domino theory."

Saudi Arabia's "Al-Iqtisadiyah": Turki al-Dakhil marvels at the popularity of former Iraqi Information Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf. The reference to "louts" calls to mind Al-Sahhaf's frequent use of the word, which also means a "non-Arab unbeliever," to describe American troops.

     "[U.S. President George] Bush revealed in comments to the American television network ABC and reported by Agence France Press that he interrupted his meetings during the war on Iraq to follow the announcements of Iraq Information Minister al-Sahhaf, who continued to deny any American military progress up until a few hours before the fall of Baghdad.

     "Some were surprised at Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf's absence from the list of Iraqi leadership figures wanted by the American 'louts.' They surely failed to realize that the West does not care about wordy press conferences full of fiery pronouncements that aim only to stupefy. The West cares in the main for actions. It seems that Al-Sahhaf, for all our affection for him and his high standing, merely played the role of a buffoon. For his, he gained admirers across the seven seas who speak all the languages of the world!"