While I agree with many of the points presented in Friday’s editorial concerning weapons inspections in Iraq, there was one minor consideration that irked me and probably any person of Iraqi or Persian descent.

That minor point was referring to Iraq as a “minor nation,” which is the major type of mistake that causes many people outside this nation to view the United States as arrogant.

The “minor nation” of Iraq has a major population that has suffered some major problems for more than 20 years because of war and sanctions. Incidentally, those major transgressions are due to a dictator who was put into power by us Yanks.

The “minor nation” of Iraq is home to millions of people, the majority of which see Saddam Hussein as a major pain. Incidentally, we turned our back on those people when we gave them minor aid to topple the regime we’re now trying to eradicate altogether.

The “minor nation” of Iraq is also home to the second highest largest oil reserve in the world. That major point has not gone past our former oil barons, Dubya and Cheney.

My point is that although I found the article to be quite enlightening and very much in line with my own views, it was one phrase that stuck out in my mind. Referring to Iraq as a “minor nation” was a major mistake because it screams, “we don’t care about you” to the rest of the world and, in particular, those in the Middle East.

Now for that phrase to have an effect on me, an open-minded American individual who is not even from Iraq, imagine the effect this sort of rhetoric has on others outside this country.

This is not to say that a huge population of international readers is logging on to see the latest issue of The Daily Campus. But it does point to the fact that a minor mistake in wording (i.e. referring to nations as an “Axis of Evil”) can have a major effect on how people view this country and create feelings of angst against our nation.

That sort of angst is certainly no minor concern to our security.

Feras Gadamsi
Alum, Class of 2002