New Iraq Must Include Change in Arab Ideology

Cal Thomas | Syndicated columnist | Updated: Apr 07, 2003

New Iraq Must Include Change in Arab Ideology

What happens after it’s all over and freedom has come to Iraq? That depends. Nothing will change in that part of the world unless there is a restructuring of the Arab media and much of its theology.

Arab media have said nothing about Saddam Hussein’s murderous rule. But they show pictures of the dead and wounded and blame Coalition forces. The liberators must establish a broadcast network that tells the truth about the past and the future.

The way the next generation of Muslim children are educated must also change. The New York Daily News reported Friday that textbooks used in that city’s Islamic schools "contain passages that are blatantly anti-Semitic" and repeat "old canards" about Jews.

In grades 3-6, children are taught that Jews and Christians "lead such decadent and immoral lives that lying, alcohol, nudity, pornography, racism, foul language, premarital sex, homosexuality and everything else are accepted in their society, churches and synagogues."

Elsewhere in the book it says that "Jews subscribe to a belief in racial superiority."

All of that must change, or nothing will change.

I’m Cal Thomas in Washington.

New Iraq Must Include Change in Arab Ideology