Ahmad Al-Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, harshly criticized Arab regimes who refused to recognize the Iraqi Governing Council. The following are excerpts from his article: [1]
'The Middle East is Dominated by Wilting and Exhausted Regimes'
"The new free Iraq regained – through its transitional administration – its seat in the U.N. and in OPEC, and [was given] representation in the Arab League. The rehabilitation of Iraq continues also in the rest of the international organizations, and Iraq intends to become again an active member of the international community.
"The new Iraq is moving ahead towards its goals despite the obstacles [created] by the terrorists and their murderous acts. It is making progress towards completing the foundations of an exemplary country that will be the beacon of freedom, democracy, and respect to human rights in [our] Middle East, which looks more like a wasteland dominated by the silence of a graveyard. A Middle East frozen like a glacier, full of Sultans sitting indefinitely on their seats of power, republics that are inherited [from father to son], and wilting exhausted regimes.
"Despite all that, we see the heads of the regime in the Arab world, a regime… that has completely lost its authority, and that belongs to [the category of] totalitarian and single-party regimes and [whose members] adhere to hollow ideologies that breed only terror, hatred, and repression – they are the ones who are refusing to recognize the transitional Governing Council in Iraq. These people wave [the claim] that the Governing Council is illegitimate, has not been elected, and was established by the U.S. government and the American occupation administration.
"Such explanations are ridiculous and pitiful… because these opponents [to the Governing Council], basically and fundamentally, lack legitimacy. They attained power by usurping it, and not through legitimate elections, and the only culture of those who, by and large, rode in tanks to rob the legitimate owners of their power, is the culture of murder and death."
The Arab Regimes Have No Right Not to Recognize the Iraqi Governing Council
"No one elected any of… those revolutionaries. All of them as one betrayed their revolutionary titles, and demonstrated utter paralysis in living up to their promises. They lied, using hollow promises about reaching their goals: restoring glory, honor, prosperity, and freedom to the oppressed people. Those zealots when it comes to the legitimacy [of the administration in Iraq], had in fact concluded [their own revolutions] by dividing the spoils of power [among themselves] and by putting the riches of their countries in their own pockets. [They] became capitalists and businessmen who launder their money, while their people became poor and penniless and started seeking hope for their future by knocking on the doors of foreign embassies. They [the people] suffer domestic colonialism imposed by rulers who act against them, rob them of their freedom, dignity, and humanity.
"These rulers have no right to refuse to recognize the transitional Governing Council in Iraq under the pretext that it was not elected and that it was not legitimate. Their demand… to restore freedom and sovereignty in Iraq is astonishing since they themselves are robbing the freedoms of other countries… and raping their sovereignty…
"Most modern countries, at their inception, went through the phase of a transitional governing council, followed by the election of an elite group that forged the constitution of the new state, which then became the foundation for general elections, the parliament, the government and its leaders… Such was the beginning in England, the mother of [modern] democracy. Cromwell laid the foundations, and through trial and error, the regime started to evolve and reached its ultimate development in our times, hundreds of years later. Why shouldn't Iraq go through the same process as Britain…?
"Those who talk about American occupation in Iraq are themselves occupying their countries. They are the colonialists of their peoples, using secret services, agents, whips, jails, and torture dungeons whose walls are smeared with the blood of innocent victims. [When we hear these people] we should remember that no one is a better authority on modesty than a prostitute…"
[1] Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), September 30, 2003.
