(New York Times) Thomas L. Friedman - As someone who believed, hoped, worried, and prayed that Iraqis could one day pull off the election they did, I am unreservedly happy about the outcome - and you should be, too. Why? Because what threatens America most from the Middle East are the pathologies of a region where there is too little freedom and too many young people who aren't able to achieve their full potential. The only way to cure these pathologies is with a war of ideas within the Arab-Muslim world so those with bad ideas can be defeated by those with progressive ones. We can't fight that war. Only the Arab progressives can - only they can tell the suicide bombers that what they are doing is shameful to Islam and to Arabs. But we can collaborate with them to create a space in the heart of their world where decent people have a chance to fight this war - and that is what American and British soldiers have been doing in Iraq.
2005-02-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive