Contrasting Reactions

[Geoff_M]

The "Arab Street" appears to be in "shock & awe" right now. They can't believe their eyes in what they see in Iraq. The Palestinians are particularly dumb-struck. Here's some quotes from the Jerusalem Post:

"I'm stunned and appalled. I can't understand what is happening," said Rustum Abu Ghazalah, a 30-year-old shopkeeper in the center of Ramallah.

He and grim-faced fellow shopkeepers zapped from one Arab TV station to another with the hope of discovering that what they were hearing and watching was nothing more than a US-produced Hollywood film.

"This can't be true," grumbled Abu Ghazaleh. "Where are the suicide bombers? Where are the Fedayeen of Saddam? Where are the heroic Republican Guards?"

(snip)

"This is a sad day for all the Arabs and Muslims, particularly the Palestinians," said Nael al-Am, a 36-year-old grocery owner in Ramallah. He is one of the few merchants who still keep a large-size poster of the deposed Iraqi president. Friends describe him as a staunch supporter of Saddam.

"I invested a lot of money in buying a satellite dish and a new TV set because I wanted to watch the day the battle for Baghdad begins," explained the bearded shopkeeper. "I was sure that this was going to be one of the great battles of the century, where an Arab army would inflict heavy losses on the invading crusaders. I feel as if a dagger has been stuck in my heart when I see American soldiers strolling in the heart of Baghdad."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1049854721833

The amazing thing to me is that you'd think they would be happy for their brethern dancing in the streets of Baghdad, but just the opposite seem true. If they'd have their druthers, Saddam would be firmly back in control. Do the feelings of their Iraqi cousins count for nothing?

 

[SuiteDisney]

I don't think it's so much that they want Saddam in power as much as they wanted the Arabic people to win over the infidels. Most of it is based on religion. 99.9% of wars are fought over whose God is better.

 

[Geoff_M]

I agree that regional/religous pride was part of it, but still many many Arabs (He was practically the "patron saint" of the Palestinians) thought he is/was a great ruler.

I still find it really, really odd that we have the dual reaction of people dancing in the streets in Iraq and most of the rest of the Arab world in a funk. You'd think they'd see people celebrating the overthrow and think "Hmmmm, maybe it's not such a bad thing after all."

 

[Mermaid02]

Didn't Hussein pay the families of Palestinian suicide bombers?

 

[Geoff_M]

Yes. The last check ($25,000 I think) was hand delivered a day or two after the war started. That pipeline to Hamas has been hopefully shut off.

 

[Mermaid02]

Maybe that's why they liked him.... they didn't have to live under him though did they?

 

[charlie,nj]

..here are a few more reactions from www.1010wins.com


"Why did he fall that way? Why so fast?" asked Yemeni homemaker Umm Ahmed, tears streaming down her face. "He's a coward. Now I feel sorry for his people."

Arabs clustered at TV sets in shop windows, coffee shops, kitchens and offices to watch the astounding pictures of U.S. troops overwhelming an Arab capital for the first time ever. Feeling betrayed and misled, some turned off their sets in disgust when jubilant crowds in Baghdad celebrated the arrival of U.S. troops.

"We discovered that all what the (Iraqi) information minister was saying was all lies," said Ali Hassan, a government employee in Cairo, Egypt. "Now no one believes Al-Jazeera anymore."

In a live report from Baghdad, correspondent Shaker Hamed of Abu Dhabi Television said: "We are all in shock. How did things come to such an end? How did U.S. tanks enter the center of the city? Where is the resistance? This collapse is puzzling. Was it the result of the collapse of communications between the commanders? Between the political leadership? How come Baghdad falls so easily."

The shock came after weeks of hearing Saddam's government pledge a "great victory" or fight to the death against "infidel invaders."

"We Arabs are clever only at talking," Haitham Baghdadi, 45, said bitterly in Damascus, Syria. "Where are the Iraqi weapons? Where are the Iraqi soldiers?"

 

[Geoff_M]

"Now I feel sorry for his people."

Yeh, they sure are bummed out, aren't they!

 

[Deb in IA]

Originally posted by Geoff_M

The amazing thing to me is that you'd think they would be happy for their brethern dancing in the streets of Baghdad, but just the opposite seem true. If they'd have their druthers, Saddam would be firmly back in control. Do the feelings of their Iraqi cousins count for nothing?

You know, Geoff, I sometimes listen to Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Not that I agree with her (I vehemently do NOT on lots of things), but sometimes she is mildly interesting.

One night she was talking about how the Iraqi forces were mowing down civilians in Basra as they were trying to surrender. She asked why were other Muslims (Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, Saudis, etc) NOT enraged that this type of behavior was going on against their own people????

Her conclusion was that the Muslims HATE THE AMERICANS (or infidels, if you prefer) MORE THAN THEY LOVE THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

 

[bsnyder]

As Tom Friedman puts it...these people are suffering from poverty....not of money but of dignity.

If you take a quick look at the history of the Islamic world, their civilization was once the leading innovator of the world, in medicine, science, law, etc.

Now, thanks to Islamofacism, they are falling further and further behind the rest of the world. The zealots of the Islamofascist movement, like Bin Laden, exploit the poverty of dignity by manipulation, and twisted religious dogma.

I'm hopeful that in Iraq, which under Saddam was really more of a secular nation, that they can transition to a working democracy. They're certainly blessed with some advantages that some other muslim states do not have....like rich oil reserves.

 

[jenjie]

"We discovered that all what the (Iraqi) information minister was saying was all lies," said Ali Hassan, a government employee in Cairo, Egypt. "Now no one believes Al-Jazeera anymore."

All together now..... awwwwwwwww.

 

[WDWHound]

"Now no one believes Al-Jazeera anymore."

So sad. They were such a tower of credibility up until this point!

 

[jenjie]

Do you think maybe what happened today was really the SHOCK & AWE we've been hearing so much about?