Karem Mohammed weeps over the bodies of his family, including his six children, his wife, two brothers, mother and father who were killed by U.S. forces

Asif Farooqi, IOL Correspondent

AMMAN, April 2 (IslamOnline.net) - A long drawn-out bloody war in Iraq would only ignite more military and ideological conflicts in the region and bring radicalism and economic hardships rather than boosting "democracy and peace" as promised by U.S. President George Bush, said a number of intellectuals and political analysts.

Some of the intellectuals and analysts IslamOnline.net interview in the Jordanian capital Amman believe the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would further destabilize the political and security situation in the region which is already shattered by the Palestine-Israeli conflict.

"Political and security situation in the Arab world is not as the U.S. leaders perceive it to be and the long-term reaction to the Iraq war in this part of the world would be far different from what Mr. Bush thinks and desires," said Tayseer Nazmi, an intellectual and political analyst.

"We might see extremism taking foot here resulting in violence" he warned.

The expert opined that foreign invasion of an Arab country would seed insecurity amongst the leaders of other Arab states and they may turn towards more dictatorships.

This view is shared by many on the streets of Jordan where parliamentary elections are overdue for two years now.

Many fear the vote planned for June this year may not take place while a war is going on next door. Hence prolonging the abeyance of parliament for unlimited period.

"Only beneficiary, if any of this war would be, Israel. And the benefits have already started of flowing to it with huge amounts of funding from the U.S. and threatening gestures from the U.S. officials towards arch anti-Israel countries like Syria and Iran" said Ghazi Al Saadi, head of the Amman-based think tank Palestinian Research Center.

Ghazi was of the view that with Iraq under the control of a U.S. general, Washington would start work on the new political arrangement for the Middle East. It means there is new colonialism and imperialism in this area.

He said it was high time for the Arab states to re-think their own problems and workout a joint strategy to get rid of the U.S. and its influence in the region.

"It is difficult but we have precedence in the history to be followed like that of 1973 when Saudi Arabic stopped supplied of oil to the western countries," added the expert.

Ghazi said there was nothing in the region which could have stemmed fundamentalism and religious hatred in the Arabs more than the Israelis.

He agreed, however, that a prolonged war would give birth to the "problems of their own" for many Arab governments.

"America stands the chance of loosing friends in the Arab world if the war in Iraq prolongs.

"No country with the exception of Kuwait would directly or in-directly continue supporting U.S. for a longer period" Ghazi said.

He added that if American policy makers accord any importance to relations with the Arab country, they may well try to finish this war within weeks and not months.

"Peoples in the Arab country are very upset with their government's policy of support to the U.S., open and hidden and no government in the world can afford to go with this contradiction for a very long time" Ghazi said.

"I think after this war Muslims will try everything to harm U.S. and its interest in east and west" Ghazi warned.