Arab culture is not monolithic. Iraqis are different from Sauids, are different from Jordanians, are different from Egyptians, are different from Palestinians.
From everything I have seen and read, Iraqis are considerably less resentful of the West than are other Arabs, such as Saudis, Egyptians, and Palestinians.
Your post was the first report I've seen of Iraqis cheering on 9-12. Do you have anything with which to back that up?
Obviously true. There are also significant differences within the groups you mention. They wouldn't be human if that weren't so.
From everything I have seen and read, Iraqis are considerably less resentful of the West than are other Arabs, such as Saudis, Egyptians, and Palestinians.
That's also probably true...although not of Ba'athists and their supporters - the very people who so brutally ran the country until recently. I wonder if that had anything to do with our choice of targets?
Your post was the first report I've seen of Iraqis cheering on 9-12. Do you have anything with which to back that up?
Many people throughout the Arab world (and elsewhere, including the United States) cheered. I'll see if I can find a specific reference to Iraq.
And Iraq, alone among the 22 members of the Arab League, failed to condemn the atrocities of Sept. 11. Indeed, Baghdad celebrated them. Saddam's government issued a statement, quoted widely in Al-Iraq and other state-run papers, that said America deserved the attacks.
Perhaps Iraq's official response indicates nothing more than a continuing hatred of America, but Mideast leaders who are no friends of the U.S. acted differently. Iran sent its condolences. Yasser Arafat expressed sorrow and gave blood. Even Libya's Moammar Gadhafi called for Muslim aid groups to help Americans, adding that the U.S. had the "right to take revenge."
from THE VISIBLE HAND
This source was posted above by tailhappy.