American way: Not obvious to others [Archives:2005/809/Opinion]

By Chris Molling
[email protected]
For the Yemen Times
I wanted to share with you my reaction to an editorial in the USA Today paper concerning Pakistan. My wish is that I can impart to you something about the American way of thinking that may not be obvious to other parts of the world:

So let me get this straight, our strongest ally in the South Asian theater is a corrupt, military regime. Further, democracy in Pakistan is being held at bay by the corruption and the military. If this is a premise of the article, what does the US alliance with Pakistan say about the US and the US form of democracy? Who can go to bed with the devil and not be changed? What is the US form of democracy? Does a democracy invade and occupy a foreign country? Does a democracy support and help arm military dictatorships such as Pakistan? Does a democracy fund and protect a government that practices racism against its occupied people such as Israel?

For a more compelling argument the author may want to define US democracy and the wishes of the majority. Do the majority of the people of the United States want this continued Iraqi military intervention? Do the majority of the people of the United States want an alliance with the Pakistani government? Do the majority of the people of the United States want support of Israel as it bombs Palestinian neighborhoods, bulldozes Palestinian homes, uproots Palestinian olive trees, and builds a wall between Palestinians and Israelis?

I want to suggest to the author that political philosophies such as democracy, theocracy and dictatorship may make a difference in the future of nations, but how these philosophies are put into practice matter more. The US democracy as put into practice in international affairs is undemocratic and brutal. Pity the US more than Pakistan and any future Iraqi government.

Our undemocratic democracy is ruining our lives and the lives of others. The US is a nation of people whose history is full of the success of living by example. If we continue to talk the democratic talk and not walk the democratic walk, we will die to ourselves well before the terrorists arrive.

On another subject, I would also like to tell Hassan Al-Haifi that his recent opinion piece was well-written and well-argued. I would suggest that the west has little to no concept about the violent and racist nature of Zionism.

Reference to “enemy” is certainly a loaded word, but the reference to “Zionism”, which fuels the hatred and oppression, goes unappreciated by the Western audience. Just as the political philosophy of democracy is now but another empty phrase given the US international behavior and just as democracy is but another fatuous political philosophy given the behavior of Israel, the West finds meaning for its “superiority” life in economics.

So the West gives credit for its prosperity primarily to good economics rather than good political structure. So against this backdrop the West treats Zionism as weak and almost meaningless. Only the Muslims and the Israelis understand that Zionism creates enemies because it has no friends. Zionism poisons any well of understanding between Israelis and others. Too bad that most people in the West, who were offended by the Abbas remark “Zionist enemy”, don't realize that Abbas had only to say “Zionist” without the redundancy of “enemy” to convey the same meaning.
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