Culture Gap Complicates U.S. Task in Iraq (somebody figured it out)

[kskiska]

James P. Pinkerton

Remember Baghdad Bob? Also known as Comical Ali? That would be Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister under Saddam Hussein, who, in the eyes of Westerners, made a fool of himself by claiming that American forces were defeated when, in fact, they were entering Baghdad.

Yet, at the same time, he became a hero to many Arabs, who admired his colorful language, especially his over-the-top insults against the Americans. And that gap in perceptions, Western vs. Arab, is just one specific measure of the gap between the West and the Arab world in general.

To put it bluntly, Arab culture has had a hard time grappling with the realities of the modern world. That's an overall problem for Arabs as they confront the West and all its technology. But it's also a particular puzzle for America, since we, the occupiers of Iraq, must now make the Iraqis see things at least halfway our way.

(snip)

The problem now is that an Arab culture - much of it pre-modern in its reliance on words, much of it backward in its dependence on conspiracy theories as a substitute for reality - now finds itself cheek to cheek with Americanism, in its technical, unsentimental belief in the bottom line. And so it's yet another battle between ancients and moderns, between poets and scientists, between romantics and rationalizers.

Based on the history of the last century, there's no doubt that the Westernizers will win, if they have the will to do so and the willingness to endure pain along the way.

more…
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vppin093364586jul09,0,3454959.column

[wtmusic]

1. Westernizers have never won

in Muslim culture. They have been trying in Iraq for hundreds of years. Do we now have something new to offer?

Deep roots in tradition, religious pride, and the strength of tribal bonds are incomprehensible to American strategists. And democracy itself is not a keen enticement to countries like Iraq, which are financially independent and don't in fact need the West for a damn thing.