Congressional Record, Volume 149 Issue 83 (Monday, June 9, 2003)

[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 83 (Monday, June 9, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5061-H5063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[Congressional Record: June 9, 2003 (House)]
[Page H5061-H5063]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr09jn03-78]

AMERICA'S REPUTATION AS PEACEMAKER IS DOUBTED

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, to win the war on terrorism ultimately
America must be able to make more friendships and reduce the number of
enemies that face us. In places very far from home, friendship is a
matter of

[[Page H5062]]

the heart, and it is a matter of the mind. And thus it was with some
dismay that I read a poll last week, the results of which I wish to
place in the Record tonight, done by the Pew Research Center going and
interviewing over 16,000 people across the globe, largely in the Muslim
world, but also in Europe and other places, asking them whether they
had a favorable opinion of the United States or not. And in the very
places where we need to make friends, the numbers are not good.
Take Morocco, a country of 31 million people, where there have been,
unfortunately, some terrorist attacks, 73 percent of the people have an
unfavorable opinion of the United States. In Lebanon, so key to
regional peace, 73 percent of the people have an unfavorable opinion of
the United States. In Turkey, where the future remains uncertain, one
of our staunchest allies from a military standpoint, but 85 percent of
the people with an unfavorable opinion of the United States. That is a
country of 67 million people. In Pakistan, where we know there are al
Qaeda cells, where we know we have madrasas operating, spewing hate
every day and instilling young children that they should give their
lives in the cause of terrorism, a country of 147 million people, 87
percent, 87 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the United States.
In Jordan, right next door to Iraq, a country of 5 million people, over
5 million people, 99 percent of the people have an unfavorable view of
this country. And in the Palestinian Authority, where we continue to
see such great violence, there really is not any support for the United
States. In fact, the number shows zero percent favorable rating for the
United States.
I must ask the question, how does one make peace in these
circumstances, lasting peace? In that regard, I wish to place in the
Record a really beautiful article written by David Ignatius in The
Washington Post last Friday. I will not quote all of it here, but I
will just read it to you in part. It was written from the steps of the
American University of Beirut, a place I have personally visited, the
university in that region that has produced the leaders, the leaders
that have tried to make ties to the West.
The writer says he found himself sitting on the steps talking to some
of the students whose generation will have to transform our hope for
peace into reality. And the most hopeful thing he could say after
visiting with them was that they had an understanding of how powerful
America is. But the question seems to be in his mind after speaking
with the students that we have a long way to go to restore America's
credible role as a peacemaker. The students, to put it bluntly, he
says, do not believe that America is serious about its values. Suggest
to them, for example, that America really wants to advance democracy
and freedom in Iraq rather than grab the country's oil and you get
smirks and guffaws from the students. For these students, America has
come to stand for jobs and income, not human rights. It is a way to get
paid, they say. That is why these kids are happy to be going to an
American university because it is the best way to get on the global
gravy train.
For them, America is a good market, one of the students he talked to
said, rather than a place with admirable values. In fact, one of the
students told him, might makes right in America, does it not?
We were talking under the main gate, he says, of the American
University of Beirut, which is inscribed with the words of its
founders: ``That they may have life and have it more abundantly.'' But
this is the generous spirit that educated generations of Arab leaders,
and for decades the United States has been living off the good will
that that helped to create, and it is beginning to wane.
He talks about how former presidents of the American University of
Beirut have been killed, have been kidnapped and always live under
threat. And yet, students are saying to him today, freedom in America
has been abolished. One of the young girls said, Look at civil
liberties. They do not exist any more in the United States. He says the
degree of cynicism among these students is frightening.
Madam Speaker, as I close my remarks tonight, the writer encourages
us to look at our basic values of human rights, of freedom and
democracy, and give those precedence in all of our efforts towards
peace, not just making money in the marketplace.

[From the Washington Post, June 6, 2003]

America's Doubters in Beirut

(By David Ignatius)

Beirut.--As President Bush was proclaiming America's role
as a peacemaker between Arabs and Israelis this week, I found
myself sitting on the steps of the American University of
Beirut, talking to some of the students whose generation will
have to transform this vision into reality.
The most hopeful thing I can say is that the students seem
to understand how powerful America is. And while Bush is far
from popular here, there seems to be growing respect for his
orneriness--for that laconic manner that just possibly might
be a match for the stubbornness of the Israelis and the
Palestinians.
But judging by the students' comments, Bush has a long way
to go in restoring America's status as a credible peacemaker.
These students, to put it bluntly, don't believe that America
is serious about its values. Suggest to them, for example,
that America really wants to advance democracy and freedom in
Iraq, rather than grab the country's oil, and you get smirks
and guffaws.
For these Arab students, America stands for jobs and
income, not human rights. It's a way to get paid. That's why
these kids are happy to be going to an American university--
because it's the best way to get on the global gravy train.
``We still feel proud to be here. We're getting the best
degree in the best university in our region,'' says Maurice
Haddad, a bright 24-year-old majoring in information systems.
Like almost all the students I met, he wants to go to
graduate school in the States. But for him, America ``is a
good market,'' rather than a place with admirable values. In
America, ``might makes right,'' said one student bluntly.
We were talking under the main gate of AUB, which is
inscribed with the words its founders used in 1866 to
describe its mission: ``That they may have life and have it
more abundantly.'' The generous spirit educated generations
of Arab leaders, and for decades the United States has been
living off the goodwill it helped create.
I am a shameless fan of AUB. I sat here more than 20 years
ago with AUB President Malcolm Kerr shortly before he was
assassinated; I talked with AUB President David Dodge before
he was kidnapped; I began debating Arab bureaucracy with the
current AUB president, John Waterbury, in 1981. I deeply
admire these men and the university they have bravely
struggled to maintain.
But I had the sense this week that for the students, the
tank is beginning to run dry. ``Freedom in America has been
abolished,'' said a 21-year-old medical student named Lamia.
She offered a summary of court cases to buttress her argument
that civil liberties in America have been compromised in
Bush's jihad against terrorism.
The degree of cynicism among students is frightening. We
began talking about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example,
and nearly every student expressed doubt that Osama bin
Laden's suicide bombers had really toppled the twin towers.
``It was a play to make it look like the Arabs did it,'' said
a young woman named Natalia.
When I asked the students how they could believe such
conspiratorial nonsense even though they had seen the
buildings collapse on television, they shouted our
alternative theories. ``The tape was altered,'' said one.
``Technically those two buildings couldn't have collapsed
unless there were bombs set at the bottom,'' insisted
another. ``How could someone in a cave in Afghanistan have
done all that?'' Asked a third.
``It's your fault!'' argued one young woman in a ponytail.
``Your movies have taught us that any image can be
manipulated.''
Students can be forgiven for saying crazy things. But I
worry that their comments reflect a deeper problem.
Sociologists distinguish between the ``normative'' and
``instrumental'' attributes of an institution or nation. For
past AUB students, America appeared to stand for normative
values. For this more cynical generation, America is instead
an instrumental machine for getting jobs and making money.
Waterbury took a laudable step this week in trying to
reconnect the Arab world with America and its values. Thanks
to a $5.2 million gift from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal,
AUB will soon found a new center for American studies. Maybe
that will help.
AUB is an example of what people mean when they say ``soft
power.'' All the armor in America's awesome hard-power
military will end up rusting in the sand if Arabs don't come
to believe that those tanks represent a culture that promotes
freedom and democracy--and that America lives by those
values.

FAVORABLE OF USA
(Population in millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorable
Nation rating Population
(percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel.................................. 79 6.1
Great Britain........................... 70 59.7
Canada.................................. 63 31.9
Australia............................... 60 19.5
Italy................................... 60 57.7
S. Korea................................ 46 48.3
Germany................................. 45 83.2
France.................................. 43 59.7

[[Page H5063]]

Spain................................... 38 40.1
Russia.................................. 36 144.9
Brazil.................................. 34 176.0
Kuwait.................................. 63 2.1
Nigeria................................. 61 129.9
Morocco................................. 27 31.1
Lebanon................................. 27 3.6
Turkey.................................. 15 67.3
Indonesia............................... 15 231.3
Pakistan................................ 13 147.6
Jordan.................................. 1 5.3
Palestinian Authority................... 0 2.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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