When Bush and Kerry start debating foreign policy, the Arab world will be all ears, writes Dina Ezzat Tomorrow begins the first of three debates that will be held between incumbent George W Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry. This piece of news appeared centre-stage in most of the Arab papers during the second half of the week, and for good reason. The first debate will focus on foreign policy -- in other words it will in part reveal to peoples of this region what the man in the White House has in mind for them. Commentators contemplated what Bush and Kerry will be proposing on Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Syria, Iran, Sudan and perhaps Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The prospects did not seem promising by all accounts. Many believe the next US president, be he Bush or Kerry, will have very little, if any, to offer the peoples of this region. More tough times, militarily or otherwise, commentators predicted, seemed to be in store whether the next US administration is Republican or Democratic. The worst fear for many is that the US, no matter who is the next president, will find a reason to accuse countries of the region of pursuing one form or other of terrorism and will therefore strike with retaliatory measures that could come in the form of economic sanctions or military assaults. "There is no giving up on the state of terrorism," was the headline of an article by Egyptian commentator Gamil Matar in the London- based daily Al-Hayat of Monday. Matar cautioned against optimism that the next US president will lower the terrorism volume because that would be a waste. "It appears to me that any coming administration, whether led by President Bush or Senator Kerry, will not give up this 'valuable' state of terrorism," Matar wrote. According to Matar, Bush's presidency has been based on the fact that he is the president who united the nation in the fight against the evils of terrorism and that for him, to lose this status would be a pity. Indeed, "this administration has been working on provoking extreme national fears in the American public and has managed to equate opposition to its policies with treason." "Kerry, too, would not want to lose this valuable state of terrorism that has given the US president and his administration almost unprecedented support and loyalty," Matar added. Reason for pessimism in regional affairs was not only found in articles on the US elections. In the news pages and in the opinion columns, every morning, such stories were everywhere. Particularly depressing were statements made by regional and world leaders regarding the present and the future of the Middle East during debates in the UN General Assembly. "A miserable map for a miserable region: a view from the UN" was the headline of the news analysis published by Al-Hayat 's authoritative diplomatic correspondent in New York, Ragheida Dorgham, on Friday morning. Dorgham, who knows the UN inside-out and conducts extensive interviews with senior Arab officials who visit New York on a regular basis, could not stop herself from expressing how angered she was by the rules that US President Bush has set for the Middle East in the next few years should he get re-elected, as most polls predict. Bush sent the Arabs four clear messages in his address to the UN, Dorgham wrote. The first is that bringing stability to the Middle East is no longer a US foreign policy priority. The second is that the future of any country in this part of the word is no longer related to its regional relations and influence but rather to the level of consent it gains from Washington. The third and fourth messages, as understood by Dorgham, were related to reform. Reform, by American standards, is necessary for any regime that wants to stay in power a while longer. Reform too, she said, is the pre-condition for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. What upset Dorgham most was not what Bush said -- he is, after all a president running for re- election. It was "the state of Arab paralysis" in reaction to the Bush threats that made this seasoned Syrian diplomatic correspondent despondent. "Arab foreign ministers held a pathetic meeting in New York where they spent a full hour discussing the next Arab-Latin American summit. As for anger about the Bush statement, that was expressed only behind close doors. Insult had to be taken with suppressed anger." In separate interviews run by Al-Hayat throughout the week, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Oman and Jordan all told Dorgham they were willing to pursue reform but hoped the US would allow them to do so at their countries' pace. They warned of the grave consequences of continued violence in the Palestinian territories, Syria and Iraq but failed to promptly criticise either Israel or the US for the state of chaos. And they all seemed very careful not to make any statements that might be perceived by the Bush administration as a vote for Kerry. More depressing reports and articles were in store for the reader of the Arab press this week. "Iraqi national security adviser flees" was the headline in the Arab affairs page of another London-based daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, on Monday. The story of Mowafiq Al-Robei, Iraq's national security adviser who admitted fleeing the country which in his own words "knows no security" was one more shocker, as were accounts of correspondents in Iraq describing empty restaurants, of drivers holding their breath for fear of being shot dead or blown to bits by a car bomb when they stop at a red light, and above all of mothers and fathers looking for the bodies of their children and other family members after daily raids in Falluja and other Iraqi cities. It was equally saddening to read in a Friday and Sunday interviews in Asharq Al-Awsat, yet another a London-based daily, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Foreign Minister Houchiar Zebari, respectively, playing down the drama unfolding in their country and suggesting that order could be resumed in four months to allow for national or partial elections to be held in January as planned. More disturbing stories were reported from Syria where Mossad agents, "with the help of an Arab intelligence body or individuals", as suggested by the Syrian daily Al-Baath on Tuesday, assassinated a Hamas leader in the heart of Damascus. From Sudan too there was the unfolding human tragedy of Darfur and the failure of the Sudanese government to resolve its problems in other parts of the country with other political groups. On the side, the Arab press found time to indulge in more sadness as it mourned the death of the icon of modern French literature, Francoise Sagan, author of the extraordinary Bonjour Tristesse.
