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of the advantages of living in relative isolation on a farm is the
opportunity to ponder idle questions when there are few experts
around to give the proper answers. I list in no particular order
a sampling of them that arose last night while I was walking alone
through the orchard — on the chance that a few other puzzled
Americans have also at times been just as exasperated and confused.
Why does Mr.
Mubarak lecture us to become intimately engaged in the Middle East
Peace process, when Mr. Clinton, who was very recently intimately
engaged, got the intifada for his efforts?
And why does
Mr. Mubarak seek to advise us about our proper diplomatic role,
rather than explain to us why an Egyptian masterminded the deaths
of 3,000 of our citizens and others of his countrymen are top lieutenants
of Mr. Bin Laden and are now killing Americans in Afghanistan?
And why, instead
of warning about rising anti-Americanism in his country — itself
the dividend of the virulent propaganda of his own state-run presses
— does he not ponder another recent poll, one showing that
76 percent of Americans themselves have an unfavorable view of the
Arab world?
Because, unlike
Egypt, we are a democracy, at some point will some brave American
congressman ask the dreaded question, "Why continue to give
billions to Egypt where three quarters of the people do not like
us — and when three quarters of the American people would prefer
not to?"
Why do Middle
Easterners become excited and haughty as they gloat to you that
Americans are unpopular in their countries, but suddenly grow shocked,
silent, and hurt when you politely and calmly explain why the feeling
is becoming — and perhaps should be — mutual?
Why do so many
from the Middle East come here to find freedom, security, and safety
— and then criticize the country that they would never leave
as they praise the country that they would never return to?
Is there a
word for profiling or irrationally hating Americans? Americanophobia?
Misamericany?
Why did we
incur only anger from Eastern Europeans and Orthodox Christians
for saving the Muslims of the former Yugoslavia from Milosevic,
but no praise at all from the Islamic world itself?
If the West
Bank is the linchpin of the current Middle East crisis, what were
wars #1, #2, and #3 there about, when it was entirely in Arab hands?
Is there a
difference between Palestinians preferring to kill Israeli civilians
rather than soldiers, and Israelis preferring to kill Palestinian
fighters rather than civilians?
Why are the
EU and international agencies vocal about well-fed and humanely
treated prisoners in Cuba, and yet said nothing when depraved comrades
of these detainees recently executed an American soldier upon capture
in Afghanistan, and murdered Danny Pearl?
Would the world
be angry if a Jewish terrorist forced a captured Muslim to admit
to his race and faith as he executed and beheaded him on film?
Is it really
true, as we were warned for most of January, that prayer-mats, lamb
stew, Korans, and humane treatment in Cuba ensured that al Qaeda
in turn would not execute captured Americans?
Why do not
Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, who overtly and stealthily war along
side the Palestinians, simply all join with the former to gang up
and declare war openly on Israel and then settle the issue on the
battlefield?
If we remove
the fascist regime in Iraq and help institute consensual government
there, why would we need troops any longer next door in Saudi Arabia?
What and from whom would we then be there to protect?
If we could
not have normal relations with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe,
who both allowed neither freedom nor democracy, why and how can
we maintain normal relations with the Islamic world?
If America
forced Israel to give back every inch of the West Bank, if America
withdrew all its troops from all Arab countries, if America increased
its aid to Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan, if America sought to placate
Saddam Hussein, remove all U.N. sanctions, and normalize relations
with the Iraqi dictatorship, and if America sought to restore full
relations with Iran without conditions, would the Muslim world really
like the United States?
Has any American
in any live broadcast on television ever asked a Saudi prince, the
king of Jordan, the President of Egypt, or the royalty of Kuwait,
whether they plan on allowing a free press or democratic government?
If not, why not?
If 19 Americans
incinerated 3,000 Muslims in Mecca or Medina, and blew up 20 acres
in either of those cities with a two-kiloton explosion, would the
Saudis or the Egyptians a few weeks later politely listen to admonitions
from the American government about their incorrect Islamic policies
in the Middle East?
If the Eiffel
Tower had been wrecked by an al Qaeda hijacked airliner, would the
French have gone into Afghanistan after the terrorists? And if so,
how and why? And would they have asked our help? And would we have
given it?
Why in the
last decade have we seen a succession of Israeli prime ministers
and opposition figures but only Mr. Arafat alone?
What would
the world think if Mr. Sharon displayed a revolver and then attempted
to strike one of his ministers at a Cabinet meeting?
Why do Palestinians
shoot machine-guns up into the air at funerals and Israelis do not?
Why do supporters
of Israel in America rarely castigate their country for giving money
to Egypt, Jordan, and Mr. Arafat, while supporters of the Palestinian
authority here always damn the United States for giving commensurate
aid to Israel?
Why do Middle
Easterners become far more enraged at Israelis for shooting hundreds
of Muslims than at Iranians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Syrians, Indians,
Algerians, Russians, Somalis, and Serbians for liquidating tens
of thousands?
If nearly two-thirds
of the Arabic world believe that Arabs were not involved in September
11, why should any American believe anything that two out of three
people from that region say?
Will Palestinians
cheer when Saddam Hussein launches chemical-laden missiles against
Israel when we invade his country?
Why after half
a century has the Saudi government suddenly now decided to enter
the negotiations about Palestine?
If Iran launched
missiles of mass destruction against Israel, would the EU do anything?
If North Korea
attacked South Korea, would the EU do anything?
If someone
blew up another 3,000 Americans, would the EU do anything?
Has anyone
made an inventory of the all the goods, services, and equipment
that France has sold to Iraq since 1991?
If Johnny Walker
Lindh is not charged with betraying his country, what precisely
does an American have to do to commit treason?
Has anyone
heard a Muslim in the United States condemn September 11 without
employing the word "but?"
Why do spokesmen
for groups that have the words "ethical", "humane",
"amnesty", "fair" and other such words of kindness
appear so unkind in public interviews?
Why are most of the talking heads on television who are ex-military
men direct, honest, polite, and rarely self-absorbed, while the
academic pundits usually stutter, lose their cool, and say inane
things "one could imagine…" and "as it were"?
How can training
someone for four years to lead men into battle make one a more effective
speaker and thinker than someone prepped for five years in graduate
school to teach in the university and write?
Why do six
billion people in the world conclude that the US military is the
most deadly and effective armed force in the history of civilization
when the American media who covers it does not?
How much annual
income and time off does one have to garner to oppose automatically
almost everything the United States has done since September 11?
I know that
there are properly nuanced answers to these questions that touch
on issues of pragmatism, national security, statecraft, requisite
education, and other such abstract considerations. But millions
of us Americans, I think, wonder about them nevertheless —
and just maybe we are not so crazy after all.
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