Steynworld
From Chris Doyle
Sir: Mark Steyn seems obsessed with trying tirelessly to prove that he was right about the ‘big things’ concerning the Middle East (‘The right side of history’, 5 March), forgetting that he is not the story.
In ‘Steynworld’, every little positive change in the region is now a result of the US invasion of Iraq, and therefore can be used to justify his support of the war. He glosses over the fact that the Iraqi elections, for example, took place only because of the pressure from Ayatollah al-Sistani in defiance of the Americans.
It does not take a genius to realise that reform has to happen in the Arab world. The true challenge is how to manage this transition effectively. The United States, despite the heroics of eight million Iraqi voters, has failed to do this in Iraq. Its policy on the Middle East remains inconsistent, incoherent and devoid of a real strategy. Unlike Mr Steyn, I would be more than happy to be proved wrong.
Chris Doyle
Director, Council for Arab-British Understanding, London EC4
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