Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

The writer Thomas Friedman has proposed that the US government levy a tax of an extra $1 per gallon of petrol to fund the astronomical cost of rebuilding Iraq while reducing the consumption of petrol locally.

Not a single Arab writer would ever dare to make such a suggestion to his or her own government — to levy a tax in order to support an Arab country. We lack the courage to bear the cost ourselves. We have become used to dodging the bills — habituated at putting the responsibility on someone else’s shoulders.

Our brethren in Syria and Egypt think nothing of suggesting the use of the oil weapon to fund their political ideologies. The Gulf states, for their part, are always goading the Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians into military confrontation.

I agree with Friedman that neither his president nor the members of the government have the courage to impose a single cent in tax on their citizens for the rebuilding of any country; the elections are just around the corner. But making such a proposal in itself is original and brave.

Where I disagree with Friedman is over his belief that an extra dollar will weaken OPEC or lower the price of oil. Let us not forget that none of the events of the last few years — the huge increase in Russian oil and the discoveries in West Africa and the weakening of the European, American and East Asia economies — have resulted in a reduction in oil prices.

The invoice for the reconstructing of Iraq is huge — more than $70bilion in order to repair and develop it into a modern country. That being so, the purses will snap tightly shut owing to the enormity of the amount as well as differences with the US in how to administer Iraq politically and militarily.

The only ray of hope is that Iraq is a big country and will be able to stand on its own two feet with just a little help from its friends. It has the second biggest oil reserve in the world — it is like an affluent bank whose doors haven’t yet been opened.

The reconstruction and growth of Iraq will doubtless guarantee the stability of its political institutions, and this in turn will reflect positively on the region, just as the growth in the Gulf reflected well on the rest of the region, which turned into the biggest employment and export market.

But two problems are hampering this development. The first is the mentality of the US government. It is calling on the nations of the world — from Europeans to Indians, from Australians to Slavs — and is prepared to pay any amount of money to get a commitment to military participation from them (even $8billion for a single Turkish military division). Yet they could easily put the Iraqi forces back into action so that they bear the responsibility for the security of the country. This would enable the Iraqi people to move toward a new period of stability, where it would be easier to isolate the terrorists from the thieves.

The second crisis is the mentality in the Arab political arena which wants the Iraqi project to fail even before it gets under way and refuses to see it in a positive light. In reality, supporting Iraq until it is able to stand on its two feet eventually contributes to the stability and growth of the region. It is the only way to make the Americans leave. Anything else merely keeps the status quo alive.

— Arab News Opinion 11 October 2003