Eds. note: Alex Rossmiller has graciously agreed to occasionally join us on Tapped. See his previous writing for the Prospect here.
As Matt brilliantly explained, the National Review "apology" for printing what appears to be blatant falsehoods about Lebanon essentially rests on the idea that Arabs are big liars. Who can blame the poor editors, then, for being taken in by such a devious group? But while I share Matt's horror at this "unreconstructed bigotry," the comparison to Ralph Peters is in the wrong direction of (purported) legitimacy. This attitude is, in fact, essentially the position of the U.S. government.
In preparation for my deployment to Iraq in 2005, I (and all the other civilian and military personnel heading out) were given a "Culture Guide to Iraq" which included, among other things, the helpful hints that "Arabs usually believe that many, if not most, things in life are controlled by the will of God (fate) rather than by human beings. That is why it is difficult to get an Arab to do any form of planning for the future" and "Arabs are an emotional people who use the power of emotion in forceful and appealing rhetoric that tends toward exaggeration. In their exaggeration, wish becomes blended and confused with reality." Hard to imagine why we have a difficult time dealing with the Arab world.
Actually, "[i]n their exaggeration, wish becomes blended and confused with reality" sounds an awful lot like the NRO reporting itself . . .
--Alex Rossmiller
