What is next? [Archives:2002/33/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By Hassan Al-Haifi
The Arab World is probably the slowest developing region in terms of political culture and cultural finesse. In fact, the Middle East and North Africa region is probably the only area in the world where a trend can not be projected for the future, whether as a collective entity or individual countries. Part of the problem stems from the fact the affairs in the region have become directed from outside the region, either directly or through the various interests and puppets of foreign interests that reign in the region as the great liberators of their people, etc. Notwithstanding the immense wealth that abounds in the region in terms of natural resources and historical and cultural heritage, most of the countries in the region remain at the bottom of the Least Developed Countries of the world in just about every indicator of economic, social and human development. Even those that have moved slightly up the list, have still to go much further before reflecting the true potentials of their capacities and available resources. Where does the problem for this failure really lie?
It lies in the drawing room of long term planners of Western and Zionist interests, who find in a stagnant Middle East region the sources of their continued growth and development and supremacy in the world. Yes, that would be an easy way out of the problem and ironically this has been suggested to the Arab public at large by our infallible leaders to be the one and only cause for our debacle in every one of the development fronts. But our leaders have forgotten that quite a lot of their constituents realize that these very same planners helped these leaders get to the helms of authority in our helpless countries stretching at the crossroads of the world from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and from the Mediterranean to the depths of the African rain forests. They also forget that just as they have put them in power, these same interests can have them removed anytime their interests are no longer served by these heroes of revolution and liberation, whose photos hang in every street corner and every lighter and carton of cigarette sold in the country they rule. This removal can easily be speeded up, if these rulers ever get out of line and forget to obey the dictates of their masters in the drawing rooms cited above. In this respect, then it would seem obvious that the criteria for accountability and responsibility become transformed into a pull and shove type of game between the foreign power brokers and these puppets, with the ultimate finale decided upon by sheer power and nothing more. In the meantime, the poor Arab people are so much immersed in oppression and economic demise, there is just no way they can worry about the political fate of the tyrants that step on their necks, or their own future. After all, minds are bogged down contemplating their fate for the next twenty-four hours, because they have received their salaries today and found that it itary industrial complex in the United States becomes immersed in corruption and fraud. Ironically, those who are arguing for this side or that among the general population, are the very same ones, who raised their voices for this side or that and who made a fortune speaking out loudly but failing to convey anything worth remembering. Now that they hear the war drums beating again, have let their voices be heard again. This is in anticipation that they will be written down on the under the table handout lists that are made here and there by the political operators and agents. These people can be seen all over, walking around with their briefcase full of US Dollars or any of the negotiable currencies that are asked for by these walking loudspeakers who are ready to uphold the viewpoints of this side or that, depending on who pays the most. All of a sudden, the fate of the Palestine issue is shoved aside and might even get a tranquilizer for a while, because the stage is now being set for something more important and more dramatic. This leader must go or this leader should rise, or whatever the justifications for immediate intervention are made. Even the old allies have shifted now into enemies as the roots of terrorism, once nurtured by the CIA so joyfully, have been found to rest in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. What is next?

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