Well, no and yes, Madame Secretary. It's no good to appeal reflexively to a Western framework of fair play without considering what the Iraqi document actually says. Yes, the document specifically protects the Iraqi child standing at the bus stop, and maybe even the Iraqi recruits. It's the Americans risking their lives 24-7 to protect that child and those recruits who seem to have become "legitimate" targets, according to this declaration by leaders across the Iraqi political spectrum. Shouldn't that set off, not soothing psychobabble, but angry sirens in Washington?
Funny how some stories never build a head of steam. Running smack into Thanksgiving weekend didn't help, but no holiday hiatus should have put this one on ice. It feels as if it hasn't played out at home, although I wonder if it registered overseas. Days later, at the Barcelona conference, the attempt to reach a Euro-Arab consensus on terrorism practically blew up the conference -- metaphorically speaking, of course. That's because European Union (EU) leaders refused to sign onto an Arab-Muslim definition of terrorism similar to the one in the Iraqi communique, one that would have legitimized the Arab-Muslim notion of "resistance" to "occupation" -- as in "resistance" (suicide bombing) to "occupation" (Israeli buses and supermarkets, not to mention coalition troops in Iraq). Perhaps having lately suffered enough "resistance" in their own backyards, the EU countries -- miracle of miracles -- felt spinally enhanced enough to stick to their stated conviction that terrorism is never justified.
Conversely, this was a moral statement the Arab-Muslim countries refused to endorse.
But it was the Europeans who were characteristically apologetic about the failure to reach a Euro-Arab consensus. "It's been difficult to find that perfect word to explain that concept which is shared by everybody," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in one news account, sounding a little absurd. "We all know what we mean by terrorism," he said in another, sounding a little desperate. "In reality, there is total cooperation between the countries north and south of the Mediterranean against terrorism."
Come on. One place there is not total cooperation is in reality. More than a language barrier separates the Western and Islamic definitions of terrorism, and no amount of happy talk about "inclusion" or conferences about "cooperation" changes that.