SHAMING EFFECT?
 |
James Joyner | Tuesday, April 29, 2003 |
Paul Wolfowitz argues that the ouster of Saddam has had a ’shaming effect’ on the Arab world.
“I think that already to some extent the magnitude of the crimes of that regime and those images of people pulling down a statue and celebrating the arrival of American troops is having a shaming effect throughout the region,” Mr. Wolfowitz said in an interview with The Washington Times.He specifically mentioned Syria and Iran, both U.S.-designated state sponsors of terrorism, as places where political reform is needed. He said Iran has the potential for a democratic revolution, but he sees less of a chance in Ba’athist-ruled Syria.
“In terms of the larger picture, I think they’re like several other countries on a sort of dead-end course,” he said. “They’re less immediately threatening to us than some of those countries, but I think they’re going to have to face that opportunity.”
For the United States in a postwar Middle East, he said, “It does seem to me there is an opportunity now to demonstrate that we are who we say we are, and we come as liberators and not as occupiers.”
The Pentagon’s No. 2 official, a highly influential thinker in conservative quarters, called the allied ouster of Ba’ath Party rule in Iraq an “enormously important event.”
Interesting. May it be so.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Third Quarter Growth Revised Downwards
- Obama Cabinet’s Limited Private Experience
- Google Apologizes for Michelle Obama Monkey Picture
- No OTB Radio Tonight
- Colleen Blanchard Schuler, RIP
- That’s What I Call A Loophole…
- Obama “Keeping An Eye” On Robots
- Phil Carter Quits Administration
- Census Worker Hanging Suicide, Not Right Wing Murder
- Swine flu is more popular than Dodd
Comments are Closed
