Open Letter to Citizens of the West
Dr. Elie Haddad (translated from French by Joseph Hitti)
Citizens of the West who demonstrate against the prospective war againt Iraq,

Have you ever wondered why demonstrations are much more common and larger in Paris and Rome than in Damascus or Cairo?
The Arab countries and their peoples have been engulfed for decades in a sea of totalitarianism and obscurantism. They are but a remnant of their ancient civilizations that had contributed the alphabet, the arts, science and medicine to the world.

In all these countries the regimes in power rule with fear and torture, and without legitimacy. Leaders are re-elected, even in 2003, with more than 99.99% of the vote.

Freedoms of opinion and speech are reduced to a referendum, held every seven or eight years, that renews the term in power of the local "maximum leader" in elections where the candidate runs only against himself.

After the death of the father, which is the only instance where the issue of succession comes up, the people have no choice but to crown the son, with the implied threat of "total chaos" typically dangled in front of their eyes should any alternative or candidate be contemplated.

The treasuries of these countries are empty, while those of the rulers are naturally well stacked. The population is bled dry, unemployment hovers at unprecedented levels, and the economic scandals of the ruling establishment punctuate the life of the public who has no power but to watch impotently.

The only country that had managed to escape into democracy and freedom is Lebanon, but unfortunately it has been made to "catch up" rapidly with its sister countries thanks to a devastating Syrian occupation that has no end in sight.

Concerned citizens of the West,

With this sinister landscape of daily life in the Arab world, a radical change in the regional status quo is the only hope for our impoverished and repressed societies.

This pre-announced war is, paradoxically, a true revolutionary project, the only one in fact in this part of the world.

We all are against the war as a solution, against blood-letting, against the new looming hegemonies. But it is futile to succumb to excessive pacifism and make-love-not-war sentimentalism.

The dead are unfortunately all around us. Jails are filled with political prisoners and dissidents, languishing for decades between a death and life limbo, charged with the crime of having expressed their opinion. The dead are also in the cities, gased and bombed by the airforce of their own country. Remember Halabja in Iraq, Hama in Syria, etc...

The natural resources which you fear will fall in the hands of greedy American companies have already been wasted and squandered into fat bank accounts that the rulers and their families have safely stowed in Switzerland.

The pro-American governments that might be installed after this impending war and which you fear so much, cannot be under any circumstance more corrupt or subservient to successive American governments than the current regimes have.

Citizens of the West,

If the Arab peoples do not demonstrate in the streets against the war, it is because they are first and foremost abused and denied the right to free speech. But secondly and no less importantly, if they could speak up they would ask you to help them.

7/2/03