Dar Al Hayat, Lebanon
Jan 18 2008
Desire Is Different Than Ability
Jihad El-Khazen Al-Hayat – 17/01/08//
I have some confused ideas. I start with President Bush and his
Middle East tour.
– Fruitless is the US president’s tour in our region. For he somehow
returned home empty-handed.
Bush certainly came with a full basket. He talked to us about the
independent state of Palestinian, democracy, and the Iranian threat.
He and his companions suggested selling us new weapons. But on his
way home, he returned with a basket full of the corpses of
Palestinians killed by his ally Israel.
I believe that the talk about democracy is fake. The US
administration does not think about democracy in any Arab country
unless this country holds positions at variance with its own. But if
a country holds similar positions, it overlooks stifling democracy in
many Arab countries. With respect to Iran, the president presented us
with a purely Israeli project though Iran does not pose any threat to
the United States, neither today nor in the future. Therefore, he
expects his Arab hosts to back up a state that kills women and
children and that occupies land against a Muslim country. We have
many reasons to complain about Iran, voice our concerns and remain
vigilant, but these reasons do not comprise the American-Israeli
reason. Therefore, Mr. President you’d better forget about it.
To be fair to George Bush, I believe that he is honest when he talks
about the Palestinian State. He wants to see it established.
Succeeding where all other US (and non-US) presidents failed will
cover up all his failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, and what
happened in between.
Desire is something and ability something else. Let me explain it. I
desire having an intimate dinner with Haifa Wehbeh by candle light,
but the ability is nonexistent. There are younger, more handsome, and
richer men to dine with the beauty Haifa. President Bush is in a
similar situation with respect to desire and inability. This reminds
me of a friend minister who told me one day that the singer Sabah
called him and asked him, ‘And then?’ He answered saying, ‘The call
is 50 years late.’
– President Bush disappointed the Kuwaitis. They seldom agree on
anything, but in a rare instance they unanimously agreed to ask for
four Kuwaiti citizens unfairly held in Guantanamo. Instead of
responding positively to their request, the president talked about
democracy and met with Kuwaiti women.
While Lebanese democracy is hindered until further notice, Kuwait is
considered the most democratic Arab country. Its parliament is one of
the most active legislatures in the world and meticulously holds the
government accountable without disregarding any issue. As for the
Kuwaiti women, they spearhead liberation in the Gulf and other parts
of the world, and they do not need any US support.
– An Armenian Lebanese friend of mine and a university fellow can
distinguish between feminine and masculine unlike most Armenians.
Once he read an article I wrote and said, ‘You attacked all
governments and all opposition movements in the Arab World without
sparing anyone. Who do you think you are?’
The issue is not how I think; it is rather what the government and
the opposition think about. I believe Arab governments maintain one
idea, that of staying in power by all means, whereas the opposition
is obsessed with violently overthrowing the government if possible,
then staying in power by all means. But both ideas are wrong.
Yet, I ask my readers to try to be happy with what they have today
because what lies ahead is worse.
– Since I have mentioned the Armenians, I need to say that they are
the most intelligent of all Christian communities because they
celebrate Christmas on January 6 instead of December 25.
Consequently, they buy Christmas gifts for half their price after
shops have started the sale season. (I read about a lady’s handbag
that costs ₤ 25,000 and that there are women who buy it or men
who buy such an item for their wives. How can a person be so silly? A
more important question: How did such a silly person get this amount
of money to spend it or squander it? My only answer is that the
person either inherited it or stole it.)
– The US presidential candidates are trying to win the votes of the
Republicans and the Liberals, the religious and the secular, women,
workers, trade unions, farmers, industrialists, the public and the
private sectors, and social strata, big and small ones.
If I ran for elections in any Arab country, I would seek the votes of
silly people since they constitute the overwhelming majority.
The issue of electing a new president in Lebanon is about to exhaust
the country. I suggest that we elect two presidents instead of one.
The second will be like the spare tire in the car, and is used if the
original president fails, or dies or is assassinated. Thus, we will
not have to go back to the dilemma of quickly electing a new
president.
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