Another View of the Middle East

Interesting Rich Lowry column in National Review about an inherent obstacle to our foreign policy objectives in the Middle East: they're grounded in an incorrect premise.

Bush’s emphasis on the inherent hunger for freedom is powerful. It clothes his foreign policy in an undeniable idealism. It puts his liberal opponents in a tight spot, because it is awkward for them to object to the kind of sweeping universalism they have always embraced. It might be simplistic, but that is often an advantage in political communication.

The problem with Bush’s freedom rhetoric is that it appears to not be true. Hezbollah and Hamas, and the populations that support them, desire the destruction of Israel above all, and are willing to endure warfare and dysfunctional societies to bring it about. The Sunni insurgents in Iraq want power more than anything else, and are willing to kill and maim to gain it. The Shia militias, in turn, desire revenge against the Sunni.

All around the chaotic and violent Middle East, human hearts are yearning for many things, but freedom isn’t high on the list.

The President is not known for his curiosity and attention to detail.  But acknowledging that Middle Eastern populations may have a different set of priorities than his own would be both realistic and prudent and, perhaps, form the basis of a new dialog between the U.S. and the Muslim countries we hope to influence. 

Unfortunately, President Bush is known for a stubborn insistence on seeing the world through a very narrow lens of his own making and there's not much hope his view will change before his presidency ends.  The whole world is waiting for that day.