Kiting for Boys
7th Sep 2002, 20:57
The Scotsman quoting the United Nations Development Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.....
"Regime change vital to stability of the Arab world
TODAY, the Prime Minister is in Washington for talks with President George Bush over the impending action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. On Thursday, large numbers of American and British aircraft were destroying Iraqi air defences as a prelude to ground incursions. In the next few weeks, Mr Blair is likely to begin a round of diplomatic visits, as he did before the Kosovo intervention, to win support for the overthrow of the Iraqi dictator. The die for war is now cast. However, never has there been an issue where Tony Blair seems so isolated from his party, the British public, the Arab world, or Europe, than on supporting the United States’ decision to topple Saddam Hussein. There was similar - if less vehement - opposition before Kosovo, although that country’s successful liberation, and the overthrown of the fascist Slobodan Milosevic, has caused the memory to fade. Mr Blair was right over Kosovo, but his detractors do not care to remember they were wrong. He is also right over Iraq.
The removal of Saddam Hussein is not really about the evils of the man himself; it is only partly about the prospect of his gaining nuclear weapons, although that would be sufficient cause in itself for pre-emptive action. Rather, the necessity of a regime change in Baghdad is premised on the need to begin to bring stability to the Arab world before its desperate ills become the cause of permanent global crisis over the next generation. To be blunt, the Arab zone is the world’s poorest, most backward area, and the frustrations this generates, inside and outside that zone, are a constant threat to world peace. Because of that, there is no possibility of a policy of containment being successful, in the manner of the Soviet Union during the cold war.
Many will disagree with this assessment, thinking it smacks of western arrogance. But the truth is found in a recent report on the Arab world prepared by the United Nations Development Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. The report is the outcome of 30 Arab researchers’ efforts for over a year. It portrays the real picture of the 22 Arab countries with their 280 million people (the same population as the United States).
The report says Arab people enjoy the least freedom compared to any other region in the world - less even than sub- Saharan Africa. It says that Arab women get the least opportunity to participate in the economic and political activities compared to any other place in the world. The level of education among Arab women literally is the lowest in the world. More than 50 per cent are illiterate, in a culture that venerates its religious books.
One of the most revealing aspects of the report is the dangerous backwardness of the Arab nations in the field of education and science. Their per capita spending on scientific research is the lowest in the world. In 1996, it was 0.4 per cent of the gross national product, which is one-third of what tiny Cuba spent. By contrast, Israel allocated 6.35 per cent of its GNP for research. Only 0.5 per cent of Arabs have access to the internet, again the lowest in the world. More than 65 million Arab people, which accounts for 43 per cent of the entire Arab population, are illiterate - a fact that for ever locks the region into poverty. The total number of works translated into Arabic in the last ten centuries is the same as the number of books translated annually into Spanish. The pitiful number of 220 books translated to Arabic ever year is only one-fifth of the works translated into Greek. Remember that, and you understand the genesis of the misconceptions and hatreds of the west in Arab society.
As a result of this intellectual isolation, economic growth in the Arab zone over the last 20 years has averaged 0.5 per cent. At this rate, it takes 140 years to double the national income in these countries, while it takes only ten years in most other parts in the world. Although oil-rich nations form part of the Arab region, the entire output of the 22 nations is less than that of Spain, which has only one-seventh of their population.
The cause of this intellectual and economic poverty is not the Arab peoples themselves; nor is it their ancient religion, which shares with Judaism and Christianity a profound respect for the rule of law and property, and which demands its adherents read its holy books. Rather, the Arab nations are held in the thrall of despots, hereditary monarchs and military strongmen who connive to keep each other in power lest the bacillus of democracy is let loose. There is no division between state and personal wealth, with the treasury of Arab nation after Arab nation merely a synonym for the personal bank account of its ruler.
This is a powder keg waiting to explode. The demented and frustrated Saudi intellectuals who committed suicide in the Twin Towers attack last September are an example of what could come unless democracy, literacy and normalcy are brought to the Arab nations. Why start with Iraq? Because it is the weakest link, and its sad people hate Saddam with a vengeance. Why now? Because 11 September has destroyed the containment policy. Why not work through the United Nations? We should, if the Security Council will act; but alone if necessary. Will it not create a dangerous precedent? Not if they cheer Saddam’s downfall on the streets of Baghdad."
And also
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=993832002&tid=518
"Regime change vital to stability of the Arab world
TODAY, the Prime Minister is in Washington for talks with President George Bush over the impending action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. On Thursday, large numbers of American and British aircraft were destroying Iraqi air defences as a prelude to ground incursions. In the next few weeks, Mr Blair is likely to begin a round of diplomatic visits, as he did before the Kosovo intervention, to win support for the overthrow of the Iraqi dictator. The die for war is now cast. However, never has there been an issue where Tony Blair seems so isolated from his party, the British public, the Arab world, or Europe, than on supporting the United States’ decision to topple Saddam Hussein. There was similar - if less vehement - opposition before Kosovo, although that country’s successful liberation, and the overthrown of the fascist Slobodan Milosevic, has caused the memory to fade. Mr Blair was right over Kosovo, but his detractors do not care to remember they were wrong. He is also right over Iraq.
The removal of Saddam Hussein is not really about the evils of the man himself; it is only partly about the prospect of his gaining nuclear weapons, although that would be sufficient cause in itself for pre-emptive action. Rather, the necessity of a regime change in Baghdad is premised on the need to begin to bring stability to the Arab world before its desperate ills become the cause of permanent global crisis over the next generation. To be blunt, the Arab zone is the world’s poorest, most backward area, and the frustrations this generates, inside and outside that zone, are a constant threat to world peace. Because of that, there is no possibility of a policy of containment being successful, in the manner of the Soviet Union during the cold war.
Many will disagree with this assessment, thinking it smacks of western arrogance. But the truth is found in a recent report on the Arab world prepared by the United Nations Development Fund and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. The report is the outcome of 30 Arab researchers’ efforts for over a year. It portrays the real picture of the 22 Arab countries with their 280 million people (the same population as the United States).
The report says Arab people enjoy the least freedom compared to any other region in the world - less even than sub- Saharan Africa. It says that Arab women get the least opportunity to participate in the economic and political activities compared to any other place in the world. The level of education among Arab women literally is the lowest in the world. More than 50 per cent are illiterate, in a culture that venerates its religious books.
One of the most revealing aspects of the report is the dangerous backwardness of the Arab nations in the field of education and science. Their per capita spending on scientific research is the lowest in the world. In 1996, it was 0.4 per cent of the gross national product, which is one-third of what tiny Cuba spent. By contrast, Israel allocated 6.35 per cent of its GNP for research. Only 0.5 per cent of Arabs have access to the internet, again the lowest in the world. More than 65 million Arab people, which accounts for 43 per cent of the entire Arab population, are illiterate - a fact that for ever locks the region into poverty. The total number of works translated into Arabic in the last ten centuries is the same as the number of books translated annually into Spanish. The pitiful number of 220 books translated to Arabic ever year is only one-fifth of the works translated into Greek. Remember that, and you understand the genesis of the misconceptions and hatreds of the west in Arab society.
As a result of this intellectual isolation, economic growth in the Arab zone over the last 20 years has averaged 0.5 per cent. At this rate, it takes 140 years to double the national income in these countries, while it takes only ten years in most other parts in the world. Although oil-rich nations form part of the Arab region, the entire output of the 22 nations is less than that of Spain, which has only one-seventh of their population.
The cause of this intellectual and economic poverty is not the Arab peoples themselves; nor is it their ancient religion, which shares with Judaism and Christianity a profound respect for the rule of law and property, and which demands its adherents read its holy books. Rather, the Arab nations are held in the thrall of despots, hereditary monarchs and military strongmen who connive to keep each other in power lest the bacillus of democracy is let loose. There is no division between state and personal wealth, with the treasury of Arab nation after Arab nation merely a synonym for the personal bank account of its ruler.
This is a powder keg waiting to explode. The demented and frustrated Saudi intellectuals who committed suicide in the Twin Towers attack last September are an example of what could come unless democracy, literacy and normalcy are brought to the Arab nations. Why start with Iraq? Because it is the weakest link, and its sad people hate Saddam with a vengeance. Why now? Because 11 September has destroyed the containment policy. Why not work through the United Nations? We should, if the Security Council will act; but alone if necessary. Will it not create a dangerous precedent? Not if they cheer Saddam’s downfall on the streets of Baghdad."
And also
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=993832002&tid=518