He asked me, “you don’t want foreign intervention – Americans – to make your lives better, and you hate your leaders! What shall we do then for you?” The European journalist wanted to “help” us Middle Eastern, yet he is confused. “You have to empower us, civil society, we have to choose our own destiny,” I replied. “Yet, you do not want us to choose, we always choose Islamic solutions; We Arabs and Middle Easterns are religious by nature, we choose Islamic movements.” 

Hamas, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Algerian Islamists, and more. They were all selected by people to form the most influential movement now in the Middle East . 

Westerners – the political powers -- do not want us to choose anymore. Thus, the second choice is to choose for us. Saddam was toppled, roses and greetings, thank you slogans were supposed to come up; democracy was supposed to prevail. “The Islamic Republic of Iraq” was a choice for some Iraqis … Well, US will never give people such freedom of choice; you choose what we plan, is the American rule. 

Four years on, forcibly Saddam was toppled, brutally Iraqis are treated, and intentionally the world opinion is ignored! 

As a citizen in the Middle East , I can claim that an Arab corrupt leader is better than any kind of foreign rule. Just take a look at history, under occupation never was the Middle East stable. 

Wise men study history, learn from it, and do not repeat mistakes. Mr. Bush has to know by heart that there will be no peace or stability while his troops are in the Middle East . Al-Qaeda became such only when they realized that the US is controlling their future, forcing their will, and exploiting Middle East resources. Taliban rose when they found the US abusing them to defeat its Soviet enemy; Taliban realized that it was a tool, no more and no less, that was discarded after the USSR ceased to exist. 

The Iraqi fight will never end as long as Iraqis are or feel occupied. Even when the American forces pull-out – if that ever happened – Iraqis will not stop their fight simply because the US will keep a watch dog behind. A US appointed government is occupation even if its personnel are Iraqis. 

It is Bush’s choice, keep in Middle East and have a never-ending war, or pull out and give Iraqis the freedom to choose and have the Iraqi ghosts – if not the Arab ones -- hunt the US for the end of history.