While the Arab World Slept: the impact of the Bush
years on the Middle East
By Claude Salhani
Author, journalist, political analyst and editor of the
Middle East Times, Claude Salhani looks back at the eight years of the Bush
presidency through a series of analyses and essays. From his base in
Washington, DC and through numerous visits to the region to interview those
whom Bush labeled “bad guys,” Mr. Salhani chronicled the events of September
11, and the wars the Bush administration got the United States involved in the Middle East and
the disastrous foreign policy that ensued, along with its consequences.
Of the three wars America found itself fighting, one was
imposed on the nation after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on New York and the
Pentagon; the second, the invasion of Afghanistan, was a natural extension of
the first. It was the third war, the one in Iraq that was unnecessary. Iraq
became a distraction from the main war, the one against Islamist terrorism. Instead
of finishing the task at hand, of finding or neutralizing Osama bin Laden and
destroying the Taliban, vital logistics and important funds were wasted on a
war that should not have been.
However, whether the war in Iraq was justified or not will remain a
matter of debate for generations to come. History has not said its final word
and the last chapter may be a very different one than what we expect.
*****
“…a
fascinating walk through the Arab world and the events of recent years,
while at the same time it reminds us that one's lack of history will
often make us repeat our mistakes. Mr. Salhani gives us an amazing
perspective on the real situation in the world, one that US policy
advisors would be smart to follow.”
--Edward Gabriel, former US Ambassador to Morocco
We
need a careful and discriminating analyst to help us avoid being blown
up intellectually and, alas, even literally. Claude Salhani is that
analyst. He is familiar with all the twists, turns and disappointments
of the Middle East’s history because (among other things) it is his
history. He is moved to write by a loyalty to the people with whom he
grew up and whose pains he feels as his own. But he also knows that
many Middle Eastern problems arise in part from the clumsy
interventions of outsiders ignorant of that history and so liable to
repeat their clumsiness. Claude is always lucid, readable, and
entertaining—his prose is as sharp and well-defined… Claude’s love and
knowledge of the Middle East and Middle Easterners shine through the
analysis.
--John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher