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Bush in Indonesia
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 11/21/2006 12:17 PM | Opinion
In his Nov. 18 letter, The Bush visit, David Wallis writes that America invaded Iraq to remove Saddam after the Arab-Muslim world failed ""by inertia"" to do so.
For Wallis to describe America's unjustified war as a messianic attempt at democratic nation-building in Iraq raises questions about his objectivity and his understanding of history.
The majority of Indonesians do not share Wallis's views on the war in Iraq. Anti-Bush sentiment, which is not only the result of the Iraq war, eventually became anti-American sentiment across the world including in Indonesia.
However -- like Wallis -- Indonesians understand that anti-Americanism is not in their country's (or any other country's) interest. They also know that Bush's visit to the world's largest Muslim country is not intended to improve their everyday life but to help shine up the tarnished image of a man who has been discredited even at home. So, Indonesians will simply keep going about their work.
AIT-ALLAH MEJRI
Jakarta
