Quote Originally Posted by Schmedlap View Post
Several people in this thread who are likely older, wiser, and have done more research than I, made several comments and/or assumptions that strike me as being way off the mark...

- Arabs will never like us, therefore a strategy of winning hearts and minds is misguided
- Arabs believe the typical or modal American is one who is anti-Muslim and/or anti-Arab
- There is a growing number of Americans who confuse Muslim and terrorist or just simply dislike Muslims

In regard to the first one, I presume we all agree that "hearts and minds" does not equate to "they love us."

In regard to Arab perceptions of us, I suppose that this is not much of a rebuttal since it is purely anecdotal, but I've expended nearly 3 years of my life in Iraq. Recognizing that most Arabs are masters at telling you what you want to hear and there is much lost in translation, I nonetheless find it difficult to believe that even a significant minority of them (aside from armed jihadists and JAM SG) strongly dislike us or hold a view of the typical American as one who is anti-Muslim or anti-Arab. My impression is that they simply view us as bumbling fools who are too quick to drop bombs, though this impression improves when they interact with us directly.

Again, not much of a rebuttal, but I simply do not see the growing sentiment of Americans who are becoming more ignorant and more distrustful of Muslims in general. I am as cynical about the intellect and education of the average schmoe as anyone else, but I think that Americans are becoming more aware that most Arabs - most notably the Iraqi people - are more concerned with living their lives in their way, in their land, than in coming here to attack us. The greatest catalyst to this education is our current effort in Iraq. I think that people are increasingly beginning to realize that we are risking our lives in Iraq, working side-by-side with Iraq Security Forces, reconciling with former insurgents, and helping the Iraqi people because they are worth working with and worth helping - that they are not a bunch of crazed jihadists. Most Americans respect Soldiers and are slowly beginning to realize that if we think the Iraqis are worth helping, then maybe the Iraqis - and other Arabs - are not the inherently anti-American suicidal nutjobs that many perhaps once assumed.
Great observations but one thing bothers me. Your descriptions is almost word for word the same as things I've heard from my buddies who were in Vietnam. While on a one to one basis, most Vietnamese just wanted to get on with their lives and were pretty decent folks, in the aggregate they had a culture and a system which generated and--more importalty--tolerated organized violence. Seems that the important point is not whether the average Iraqi is an OK fellow when you're sitting sipping tea, but how he responds to violence against Americans or against other Iraqis.

I'm not sure if this means anything or not. Perhaps it's just a brain fart.