For predictable, anti-U.S. views on the Middle East, there's usually no better place to turn than the Arab News, published in English by the Saudis. And no editorialist for the Arab News has written with more passion against the U.S. war in Iraq than Fawaz Turki (search).
That's why last week's column by Mr. Turki took so many by surprise. The article is an apology for not having supported the war to get rid of Saddam Hussein (search). Mr. Turki has spent several months reviewing the evidence of Saddam's killing fields, and says, "That, in my book, is enough to warrant extending my support for that invasion and for Washington's projected plans to rebuild the country."
As for the future of Iraq, Mr. Turki concludes: "Washington may not succeed in turning Iraq into a 'beacon of democracy.' But it will succeed, after all is said and done, in turning it into a society of laws and institutions where citizens, along with high-school kids, are protected against arbitrary arrest, incarceration, torture and execution." Perhaps this is the new voice of the Arab world.
And that's the Asman Observer.
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