During my recent visit to six Middle East destinations I saw positive change in the region. It is a much better place than it was a year ago and, if we finish the job we’ve started, it will be a much better place a year from now than it is today. There is evidence of progress all over the region. I had lunch with members of the Minnesota National Guard serving with the First Cavalry Division in Baghdad. When I asked them about their best experiences in Iraq, one guard member told me that his was listening to Iraqi’s complain to him. He knew that they would never have thought about complaining to Saddam’s soldiers. By complaining to him they were confirming that he and his comrades had given those Iraqis a gift of incomparable value – freedom of speech. Further confirmation of the freedom America’s presence is bringing to the region was in an article published in the International Herald Tribune about whether Egypt should have direct presidential elections. The paper said, “Before Washington started talking about political reform in the Middle East, even raising the topic of such elections was considered taboo.” Additionally, a journalist in Beirut from a French newspaper told me that the Middle East was moving forward because of America’s involvement in Iraq. He said that people were signing petitions, pushing for change, pushing to have more involvement in their governments, more freedom for women, and more freedom to pursue a better future for their families. However, while I encountered many who spoke of new freedoms, in certain areas I witnessed stiff resistance to grant ing equal rights to women. A news article reported that Saudi Arabia was moving toward its “first” municipal elections later this year, but it did not make it clear whether women would be allowed to vote. We also learned that the Jordanian Parliament turned down King Abdullah’s request to grant women the same rights as men to file for divorce. Most of the women I saw in Iraq, Jordan and Palestine wore layered scarves to completely cover their heads and wore robes that covered the remainder of their bodies in accordance with strict Islamic custom. However, when our delegation arrived in Beirut, most of the women were dressed similarly to American women. But they, and the women in Syria, felt new pressures to dress traditionally. Those who wish to continue to deprive women of their rights and the people of the Middle East opportunities to build a better future are desperate to prevent our success. We seek for young Arabs and Muslims to feel that their governments are accountable to them; that they have basic freedoms and economic opportunities. This will give hope and optimism for the future, rather than despair that leads to hatred and breeds terrorism. Both the progress and resistance to change I witnessed convinced me even more that we must press forward to success in Iraq so we transform the region and, by giving them hope, make Americans safer.
