Iraqi President Jalal Talabani: "We Have Not Heard a Single Loud Arab Voice Condemning this Terrorism Against Iraq"

The following are excerpts from an interview with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on August 28, 2005.

Talabani: To this day, there is not a single Arab ambassador in Iraq, nor is there any Arab understanding of our problems. So far, there is no real Arab empathy with the hundreds of women and children in Iraq, who are killed on a daily basis at the hands of criminal terrorists, who come from the Arab countries. Moreover, the Arab press gloats at our misfortune. These criminals and executioners, who consider the Shiites - who constitute the majority in Iraq - to be infidels, and consider the Kurds - the second largest nationality in Iraq - to be traitors, are glorified by the Arab press, which describes them "resistance" and so on. Is this how they want to win Iraq over to the Arab identity, to the Arab league, and to the groups of Arab countries?

Interviewer: Mr. President, when you speak of "Arab press," I hope you don't mean all the Arab press...

Talabani: I'm speaking of the official Arab media in Syria and Egypt. It is the same in many Arab countries. But, of course there is also free press and free journalists with a conscience, who report the truth about Iraq. But if we examine things in general, we can see that the Arab media does not condemn terrorism against the Iraqi people - against women and children, churches, mosques, and Shiite schools. We have not heard a single loud Arab voice condemning this terrorism against Iraq.

It saddens me to say that a few days ago, I read a venomous article in the (Syrian) newspaper Tishrin about the Iraqi people and its free cause, glorifying the terrorists and describing them as "resistance." It should have defended the Iraqi people and its cause, and condemn, at least, the people who kill Arabs - Shiite or Sunni Arabs. If they want to resolve their problems with the Americans, they are welcome to do so, that's their business. But does the killing of women and children in mosques, in Shiite schools, and in churches, constitute Arab resistance?

Interviewer: What do you mean when you say they want to resolve their problem with the Americas and kill in Iraq?

Talabani: I meant that they claim to be in enmity with the Americans, and they make Iraq the place to resolve their problems with the Americans. Take Qatar, for example. The largest American base is located there, and the Qatari Al-Jazeera TV, glorifies the terrorists. Why doesn't Al-Jazeera call to fight the Americans in Qatar itself? Why doesn't Al-Jazeera call the Arab people in Qatar to start an Intifada against the American base there? The same goes for many Arab countries that have good relations with the US, but no one...

Only poor Iraq, which has been afflicted by terrorism - instead of winning the sympathy of the Arab brothers, it faces, unfortunately, and unjust media campaign that does not distinguish between Iraqi women and children who are killed, and American soldiers who are killed.

[...]

My dear, terrorism is a worldwide plague. He who digs a hole for his brother is doomed to fall in it himself. Those who are now helping the terrorists will live to regret it. The day will come when these terrorists will fight them, just like they fight the Iraqi people today, because the terrorists' goal is clear - to impose a regime of darkness, like the Taliban, in the countries that reject them. Even today, you can see terrorism spreading to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Egypt, and tomorrow, it will continue spreading to Syria and even Jordan.