[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14116-14117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             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 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 in 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.'' This 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

[[Page 14117]]

     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
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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