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Many of us Americans have been asking ourselves since Sept.
11: Why do others hate us? Why is there so much resentment
against us?
As an American citizen, this hatred pains me. I do not want
my country to be hated. I am very proud of my country, America
-- a place that has provided me and my family with a dignified
life that I could not have achieved in my birth country of Iraq.
The tyrant of Iraq has persecuted my family severely for nothing
more than its intellectual opposition to his rule. Fourteen of
my relatives have been executed or imprisoned in Iraq. My
grandfather, deemed by Amnesty International as the world's
oldest political prisoner, has spent more than 21 years in
Saddam Hussein's prisons. We do not know if he is still alive.
In America, I found security, stability and freedom -- both
of expression and of worship.
I can express my views freely, including criticizing some of
our foreign policies without fear of persecution. Freedom of
speech is something forbidden in many Muslim countries. The
freedoms that allow me to exercise my beliefs and speak my mind
are what make me proud and patriotic to be an American.
To many Muslims around the world, America is a symbol of
aspiration, prosperity and great success. Many of them wish to
come to this country, look for a better life, and find
opportunities not available in their own countries.
So why is it then that some in the Middle East, in particular
some Muslim countries, hate America?
Some believe it is because of the freedom we enjoy. Others,
such as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, say they
believe it is the poverty and backwardness of some nations that
generate envy.
I believe both points of view are false.
It is not our freedom for which we are hated. There are other
countries that have more freedom than the United States, such as
Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, but they are not so
hated. As for poverty, some Middle Eastern countries, such as
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, are among the
world leaders in per capita income.
The painful truth is that the three reasons that provoke some
people in Muslim and Arab countries to publicly resent America
have to do with our foreign policies in the Middle East. Many in
the Middle East have viewed these policies as imbalanced, unfair
and disregarding of the civil and human rights of millions of
people.
Many in the Middle East pinpoint our biased
and blind support of Israel. For more than a year now, Arab
nations have been viewing via satellite unbiased TV coverage
from networks, such as Al-Jazeera, of Israeli violence against
Palestinians. These scenes are not often shown on American
television. For every Israeli killed, there are 10 Palestinians
killed, most of whom are kids and teenagers. The images of
defenseless Palestinians, killed by our Apache helicopters and
F16s, have fired up Arab streets with anti-U.S. protests. We
condemn the Palestinian terrorism, yet condone the Israeli
state-sponsored terrorism.
It has been 10 years since the Persian Gulf
War, and the U.S. sanctions against Iraq have severely hurt the
Iraqi people. These sanctions have so far claimed the lives of
more than 1 million children.
The truth is that the Iraqi people have been overwhelmed with
their tyrants, over whom they have no control. They are being
forced to pay a price for their dictator's mistakes. Saddam
Hussein is not being hurt at all.
I have personally and repeatedly asked our administration --
during the time of President Bill Clinton and now President
George W. Bush -- to lift the sanctions against the innocent
Iraqi people and impose them on Hussein.
Many in the Middle East wonder why America
promotes democracy in some parts of the world, particularly in
Latin America and Europe, but not in the Middle East. It often
supports dictatorial governments that do not believe in
democracy.
I must clarify that terrorism is in no way condoned, and has
no justification at all, especially in the religion of Islam,
which places much emphasis on the sanctity of innocent people's
lives. Undesired conditions, however, have been built up and
have contributed profoundly to the anti-American sentiments,
engulfed with frustration and resentment. This frustration has
been mounting and now has been notoriously taken advantage of by
terrorists such as Osama bin Laden. He found his opportunity to
recruit some of those frustrated oppressed people, brainwash
them and send them to attack us, making them feel that they are
avenging their oppression and frustration.
As our country is now fighting terrorism, we must also seek
more even-handed and balanced regional foreign policies.
Many non-Muslims, Muslims and Arabs voice their opinion in
the same way as I, and in no way should we condone terrorism.
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