The US has little basis upon which to lecture the rest of the world on near enough anything, writes Mohamed Hakki The most dangerous and unfortunate effect on the Arab world of the Iraq war is that the Arab people are losing sight of the distinction between the US government and the kind, pleasant and generous American people. This point has been brought home to me via a letter from a friend in Cairo. He said, "People are no longer willing to make the distinction if the American people continue to follow and elect ultra- nationalists, the neo-cons and the religious right." In the US, he goes on to say, "people must hold their government accountable for what it does. The press must tell the truth about the failures that led up to 9/11, the reasons for invading Iraq, the sanctioning of torture, the promotion of people with terrible human rights records, creating a climate of fear, and destroying civil liberties." There is a real need for a new paradigm in the relations between the two sides. There are thousands of decent Americans who do not agree with their government's dangerous and irresponsible policies. They include hundreds of religious leaders who denounce these policies in the strongest terms. When the leaders in Washington talk about freedom in the Arab world you would think that the Arabs are monkeys who do not want freedom and only like their repressive regimes. They forget that Egypt had a parliamentary tradition older than most other countries and a constitution that dates back to 1882. And when those leaders start talking about "moral values", some of their own religious leaders protest. Robin Meyers, minister at the United Church of Oklahoma City is one of them. Recently he gave a speech in which he questioned the whole premise the government is basing its case on. He outlined substantive reasons as to why he takes issue with those who claim moral values as their guiding light. For Meyers, when you start a war on false pretences and then act as if your deceptions are justified because you are doing God's will; when you live in a country that has established international rules for waging a just war, built the United Nations on your own soil to enforce them, and then arrogantly break every rule you set down; when you act as if Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as the lives of your soldiers, and refuse even to count them; when you wink at the torture of prisoners and deprive so-called "enemy combatants" of the rules of the Geneva Convention, which your own country helped establish, is it any wonder that 43 per cent of Americans -- according to a Pew poll, August 2004 -- think that torture is sometimes justified? It is amazing in this day and age that millions on both sides remain so ignorant of each other. Most people in America consider editorials in what they call "state-run" Egyptian media as short sighted, counter productive and self- defeating. They would be surprised if they knew that the Egyptian people feel the same. By the same token, the Egyptian people consider editorials in the US mainstream media as short sighted, self-centred, self-serving, and even vulgar. No one is proactively trying to create a forum of understanding and cooperation. It takes someone from outside the US to notice how "strait-laced" and earnest America is. Justin Webb of the BBC notes, "several television stations refused to allow the screening of Steven Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan. At first he thought it was a joke. The film is not pornographic, nor even awfully violent. It is a war movie that is actually shown in every Arab country and Europe. Not in America. He says America is fast becoming a nation of faith not fact." An American friend who served in the US Embassy in Cairo in the 1970s sent me an e- mail saying the following: "No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is No. 1 -- the greatest." He goes on to say: "Sure we are: an empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function." He then cites dozens of facts that most Americans, the overwhelming majority, do not know. First, the United States -- according to The New York Times -- is 49th in the world in literacy. Second, the United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy. Third, the European Union leads the US in the number of science and engineering graduates and in public research and development. Fourth, Europe surpassed the US in the mid- 1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature. Fifth, foreign applications to US graduate schools -- according to The New York Times -- fell by 28 per cent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Sixth, the US and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide healthcare for all their citizens. Seventh, 12 million American families, more than 10 per cent of all US households, continue to struggle, and not always successful, to feed themselves. Eighth, women are 70 per cent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe. Ninth, 61 of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European while only 50 are American. Tenth, 14 of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European. Eleventh, Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea hold 40 per cent of US government debt. Further, sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the US as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee and tobacco. Last year, it passed the US as the world's largest beef producer. As of last June, the US imported more food than it exported. Last but not least, Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music and books combined. My friend adds: "The USA is No. 1 in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt and delusion." Some humility Mr Bush, please!
