AN OPEN LETTER TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The following was sent to me by email. Please read it with an open mind. It was written by a Saudi who signed himself as everyman. I felt that we should see this perspective. Sound decisions cannot be made without seeing both sides of the the argument.

To coincide with arrival Of Chney tomorrow this will be on the front page of the Gazette. (I'm not so sure as of this evening whether he will actually visit here!)

Sorry to address you so informally, but some American friends tell me that Americans prefer informality and do not care for titles. I have taken their word for it. Actually, it is more encouraging for a simple citizen to take this route when addressing the high and mighty: it opens up the path to honesty and direct talk. And this is what I want to achieve by writing to you.

I am a Saudi citizen of average education, means, build, skin-color, and position in life. Most of my time is spent in pursuing the 'happy' life, whatever that means. Life changed dramatically for me when on September 11th, planes flew into buildings as people were going to work. I felt shocked and terrified. There was madness in the act I did not understand. When Arab, then Saudi, names and faces began appearing on television screens as the perpetrators of this horrible act, I thought it the Oklahoma syndrome all over again. I felt outraged at the suggestion. I need not remind you or the world of what happened next. You know it and so do we.

Within days I saw my country fall from grace: American grace, that is. The beloved and pampered child of the Middle East (Israel aside) became the most horrific nest of vipers humanity could imagine. It does say something about the fickleness of the American mind that seeks and imposes such immediate change of heart. If it took the media and the so-called intelligence that long to find out the truth, then there is not much to be hoped for from them. If, on the other hand, they knew the truth and did not let it out, then they are partners in this crime.

Somewhere in-between lies the truth. We are not a nest of vipers, nor were we ever the pampered child. Let us look at the matter more logically. Bin Laden and his gang carried out the atrocities on September 11th. Timothy McVeigh and his gang perpetrated the Oklahoma one. The only visible difference is in the gang: Bin Laden is highly visible (not a pretty sight, I agree), while McVeigh seemingly stood on his own. One is homegrown and the other alien, as you Americans call non-citizens.

Need I recall to your Excellency that America has its own brands of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen, and all sorts of weirdoes? And yet, we did not see a war on terror being declared after Oklahoma and no Montana Survivalists and crack barrons being rounded up. In effect, no one was overly surprised by this lack of action since one's crime does not incriminate others by proxy. Now we come to our own weirdo. His 'crime' seems to have engulfed us all. The war on terror is today a seemingly endless war on Islam. What we read and what we see on our television screens is overwhelming. I simply sat back and wondered where all this venom was stored before it found an outlet for itself. I appreciated your President's declarations that Islam is innocent of all that had happened, but all that is going on in reality says otherwise. Your media picks the venom up and fans it all over the world. I'm sure you meant well when your generals said that Al-Jazeera's office in Kabul was bombed by mistake, but I'm afraid no one believes you in this part of the world.

You officially asked for it to be gagged yet allowed CNN to yap endlessly about the horrors that we represent.

Just to give you an example, an American writer penned a three-page article in the Spectator of London entitled: Down With Saudi Arabia. In it he called for the heads of our leaders on a plate, the division of the country, and the surrender of Mecca and Medina to the Hashimites. I'm sure you agree that his ideas are preposterous, but what and who are we to believe these days? Now if I or another Saudi wrote an article entitled: Down with America, the whole world will accuse us of being terrorists calling for violence. It is amazing that a writer in this newspaper received an official complaint from your embassy for an article where he merely called your leaders thugs and compared you to Ancient Rome for putting your prisoners in cages. In comparison, our writer should be given a medal for self-restraint.

Now you come to visit us and you are more than welcome. Our hearts and homes are open to all those who visit us. It is something in our blood that has been known throughout history as Arab hospitality. There is also our frankness that is a Bedouin trait we are proud of, even though some might find it close to rudeness. I think you will have a measure of that Bedouin frankness when you meet our Crown Prince.

The news says that you are in this country and others in the area to put together a coalition against Iraq. If this is true, let me tell you what I feel. Evil is not a country as Mr. Bush wants us to believe, nor is it a people. I don't even think that evil, as such, is a person. If an 'evil' person does a good deed, would we still call him evil? Alternately, if a 'good' person does something evil, is he still good?

Evil is a deed, pure and simple. Fighting terror is one thing, carrying the fight over to fulfill policies is called power politics. That, Mr Cheney, is not acceptable. You will not find many here who will argue with you when it comes to the character of Saddam Hussein. He is a man of evil deeds indeed. When he invaded Kuwait, you had your alliance and people welcomed you with open arms. Today we think you are carrying a good cause (fight against terrorism) into uncharted realms for reasons we do not understand. That makes your good deed dangerously close to becoming an evil one.

Iraqis are our brethren, and they have suffered twice over: the tyranny of Saddam and the horrors of the embargo. Saddam does not seem to have lost weight over the years, but millions of Iraqi children died for lack of medicine and food. When we see you bombing them to oblivion while Saddam is strutting like a peacock, we hate you both. We try to understand your logic and your 'good' intentions, but we fail to grasp the idea. We are not stupid; rather, we have eyes and, believe it or not, we can think for ourselves.

How is it that Sharon, a bloody general indicted in his own country for being responsible for the massacres of Sabra and Chatila, is given free rein to mow down our other brethren the Palestinians while Saddam is being called names? We are not talking Jew and Moslem here, we talking butcher and butcher. It is strange that Americans wonder aloud how people around here are not against Saddam. Can't you see what is going on? In your country young men and women who blow themselves up in Palestine are looked upon with horror as terrorists. Yet those who bomb them from thirty thousand feet with your bombs, aircrafts, and helicopter gunships are seen as 'defending themselves.'

The truth is that those who use the aircrafts are cowards using an advantage to obliterate civilians, while those young people have nothing to fight back with except their own bodies and their own lives. Do you really believe that they want to kill themselves, let alone kill others? Of course not. But there comes a time when despair reigns supreme and it is easier to make such terrible decisions when one has nothing to lose.

The terrible events of September 11th cannot be totally separated from this ongoing tragedy in Palestine. Like it or not, there is linkage. I would agree with you that Bin Laden used it to further his cause, but surely you know that had he not built on a seriously genuine sense of grievance he would not have been able to drag those misguided young men into his camp.

We Arabs are a proud people. I don't mean to say that in a bragging manner, but we don't take easily to being insulted. In his war on terrorism President Bush left Sharon unchecked when he said that Israel was 'defending itself', thus equating Israel with the United States and the Palestinians with the terrorist. If this is the deal, how do you expect us to 'like' you, or even to understand your point of view? We suddenly found ourselves, as Arabs, on the other side of the fence. Being proud, we simply accepted this new reality. The Palestinians are a heroic manifestation of this pride. They will not be subjugated and they will not be made to 'kneel' as Sharon promised he would have them do. Palestine is the only occupied country in the world today. The UN says so, and your governments over the years have not vetoed that declaration.

Why can't the Israelis leave the West Bank and Gaza to its people? Why not give it to them as everyone in the world agrees it is theirs, and secure their borders? If the Israelis get attacked after that, then we would be the first to label the act terrorism.

The adversary's weakness in arms and military technology does not mean instant success, as the Israelis know and you yourself are finding out in Afghanistan. There is something called the human spirit. Let us call it the spirit of Masada, if you will. Even your daisy cutters can't obliterate that! Unless you decide to wipe out whole nations and depopulate vast areas with your cowardly weapons (I call them so because they rely heavily on use from a safe distance), you better think again your policy and start talking to the rest of humanity.

If diplomacy is the art of lying and getting away with it, I'm afraid American diplomacy these days is failing miserably. We don't expect politicians to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, nor do we believe them capable of that had they want to. But surely they should play a balancing act between the possible and the desirable. If you desire Israel to take over the whole of the Middle East, then your political savvy should tell you that such a wish is near impossible to fulfill. Why not strike a balance?

We can't believe you when you say that the two parties should sit down and talk. Why? Because, while saying that, you supply the Israelis with money, arms, moral and political support, and even lack of criticism. How can you then pull back and claim that the parties should be responsible for themselves? You are in it whether you like it or not. You are the superpower that rules the world, but you are not the superpower that will win the hearts of its populace. Your imbalance is striking as the Tower of Pisa.

I'm sure you'll be hearing all points of view and a plethora of political arguments during your tour. I do not claim to add to this or even attempt to enter into such endeavors. Yet, I feel things; and, like my fellow citizens, feel them passionately. The picture of Mohammad Dura, the little boy hiding behind his father as the Israeli sniper got him, is a screensaver on many a computer in this area. I'm sure that he is no Anne Frank and no diaries will be discovered, but he is just as precious and just as sacred. He is an image engraved in many a sub-conscious and a memory full of tears. Will his life be lost for naught harvested by an American-made gun?

You certainly can make amends and allow time to heal. You can bring about peace, whether Sharon likes it or not, and make Mohammad Dura a sacred memory to a horror that is never to be repeated again. Show us that our lives are worth something to the Americans and then question whether we like you or not. Show us that you respect our existence like we respect yours and then ask for our aid and cooperation. You will find that we will give it willingly and ask for nothing in return.

I have not changed anything about this email, except to add the note at the top. I have read this three times now and will have to go back and reread it.

I had to post this, first because it is to our VP and secondly because it has left me stunned...I want to reply, but I don't know how. I guess we forgot that there might be someone over there other than Bin Laden and the Taliban and other radical fundamentalist groups. People.

The Palestinians are a heroic manifestation of this pride.

Some "people." The writer of this piece has admiration, somehow, for those who blow themselves up, taking women and children with them.

Thanks for posting this. There are fewer moderate Arabs than I thought, which means this war on terrorism will take a lot longer.

Show us that our lives are worth something to the Americans

They used to be to this America. They are worth nothing now. The scales have fallen from my eyes, and I see these backward savages for the danger they are.

/john

The picture of Mohammad Dura, the little boy hiding behind his father as the Israeli sniper got him, is a screensaver on many a computer in this area.

Yes, his father did shield him from the Israelis, but not from the rabid Palestinians, who murdered one of their own.

---"I guess we forgot that there might be someone over there other than Bin Laden and the Taliban and other radical fundamentalist groups. People."---

I consider them only "collateral damage."

-Dan

... Sorry to address you so informally, but some American friends tell me that Americans prefer informality and do not care for titles ...
The author is sadly misinformed.

We prefer informality in our informal relationships. But when titles are appropriate, as in this case, we use them.

The author misses the mark everywhere else too.

I agree. It seems to have been written by an American who sympathizes with the Arabs. Why no name? Where was this person 6 months ago? There might be a few good ones but even they don't show their disdain for the perps nor do they appear to be sickened by the attacks. If an American went to their country (pre-911) we would have had him on a platter in a heartbeat and we would be apologizings, sending money and screaming bloody murder. But then, we are Americans.

From another article: One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya".

Even they don't think their lives are worth anything.

/john

... I guess we forgot that there might be someone over there other than Bin Laden and the Taliban and other radical fundamentalist groups. People ...
We forgot nothing of the sort. We've gone out of our way to protect Muslim sensibilities.

Is this the kind of fellow Islamist Abdul "Everyman" admires?

Saudis who herd school girls into a buring buidling, then STAND BY AND DO NOTHING while they burn to death?

"Everyman" ought to fix the multitude of problems in his own rotten country before lecturing the United States, which is trying to rid the world of his countrymen who are trying to kill us.

I don't know anymore about this letter than what I have already said. I suppose if I tried, I could get a link to the Gazette and reply. But as I said, I am stunned. I'm not sure that I could do so coherently or with the needed tact. Whoever wrote it was angry or so it seems and was obviously written by someone who is educated, possibly in the states.

Kinda amusing how we see "moderate Arabs" coming out of the woodwork, right after someone leaks a document about our nuclear capabilities and possible usage....

And on the same line of thought, I still think the nuclear Sea of Glass option is a good one ("... from Gibraltar to the Ganges, one big sea of glass").

This letter from whomever has an interesting perspective.

It's not about their hate of us, it's about their hate of Israel. We just become the financial enablers.

It's true that we would be total failures in brokering a peace between Arafat and Israel because the one-sidedness of our support.

That's something clinton didn't understand. He could get them to shake hands, but he didn't see the dagger still up their sleeves.

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