The weekend decision (Arab League call for a Libyan no-fly zone) confirmed what we've heard privately from Arab leaders for years about America's continued engagement in the Middle East. The only people who suffer from an "Iraq syndrome" are American liberals and the Western European chattering classes. The pro-Western Gulf or North African allied states have nothing to gain in seeing American influence or military power devalued in their region—either by others, or as is the current fad in Washington, through American self-abnegation. (WSJ, 3/16/11)
Great comment which raises two interesting follow-up questions:
Why is so much heed paid to “American liberals and Western European chattering classes?”
Where are the Arab leaders who will stand up and publicly pronounce what they admit privately?
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