About a decade ago or so I did a poll on my programme. And the question was: "Would you defend your country if it was attacked by a foreign power alleging it is coming to rid you of your dictators?" The result was sort of expected amidst the then American preparation for the invasion of Iraq. Over 85 per cent of my viewers said a resounding ‘yes'. Some of them even wrote comments on my web page vowing to defend their homelands to death. Others wrote very angry stuff about the ‘American invaders', and called the western comeback to the Middle East as a new ‘Crusade'. They rejected the idea of a foreign power interfering in their affairs, even if the aim was to help them eradicate the ruling tyrants.
When I compare the prevalent mood at the time with the Arab mood now, I feel utterly flabbergasted. It seems that a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. As a matter of fact, many Arabs have changed their minds almost completely as regards international intervention in their affairs, which makes one greatly astonished, and sometimes very sad indeed. But my sadness, in actual fact, does not at all stem from the sea change which befell Arab attitude as much as it does from my utter wrath against those regimes and despots who pushed their people to think the unthinkable. The question is who drove them to this state of mind?
In the near past, most of the Arab people used to regard anybody who tries to get help from outside his country as a traitor who should be banished or killed. People had then a very high dose of nationalism, if not pan-Arabism. Hence the so many demonstrations in various Arab capitals against any possible American invasion of Iraq or even Afghanistan. But it seems that some Arab despots and dictators have vowed to make their people lose faith not only in their nationalism, but also in their homelands themselves. It is a few of these the ruling tyrants and nobody else who have pushed the people to extend their hands even to the devil to help them get rid of their regimes.
Criminals unleashed
When we look around nowadays, we will see that many Arabs are not only asking foreign powers, but also pressurising them to intervene in order to protect them from the barbarity of the some Arab armies, security apparatus and their goons. It is no secret that some Arab regimes have released thousands of criminals out of jails and unleashed them on those clamouring for basic rights.
I have known a lot of religious agitators, journalists and political activists who used to banish even the idea of humanitarian intervention as an unforgivable sin. But sadly enough, they lead the way nowadays to western capitals to ask for intervention or at least protection of some kind for the ongoing Arab uprisings. We have also seen huge gatherings clamouring for international help. Some Arab activists have raised placards in some Arab streets calling on the international community to intervene in their countries. They have even written slogans condemning those who are not courageous enough to come and help them against their monstrous regimes, which very much contrasts with the old posters which used to condemn western intervention. Some Arab demonstrators have allocated days on end to call for outside protection.
In contrast, we have not seen any Arab demonstration condemning the Nato campaign in Libya. "What would have happened to Benghazi if Nato did not interfere? [Muammar] Gaddafi would have wiped it off the face of the earth", said an Arab dissident.
It seems, for the first time ever, that many Arabs are quite happy with a foreign power attacking some Arab armies. We have hardly seen any Arab media warning against western intervention in Libya. I have even heard some Arab journalists whispering: "We can now understand Ahmad Chalabi's call on the Americans to attack his country Iraq, and we can also now comprehend the position of another Iraqi writer who said that the American bombing of the Iraqi army was music to his ears." I have also heard an Arab youth on TV threatening his national army with what he called "the blessed American B52".
What astonishes one even further is that many Arabs can no longer differentiate between the foreign enemy and the local one. Many can see no difference between the Zionist foe and some of the despots ruling them. Funnily enough, a certain Arab imam found the French colonialists more humane than the regime ruling his country.
Why have many Arabs changed so dramatically? And instead of regarding those calling for international protection as traitors and mercenaries, it is high time, I think for the Arab dictators to realise that they are the real culprits, saboteurs and villains.
Dr Faisal Al Qasim is a Syrian journalist based in Doha.
