They spoke of the what they called the contradiction between the United States' words and actions, of what they call the U.S.'s suspicious support of Israel, of how senseless they feel the war in Iraq was and is, of how tragic they think it is that people have died for a war that required lies to launch.
"Because of the United State's double standard," opening speaker Samir Saikali said. "No matter how many former presidents we send to countries hit by tsunamis ... something needs to be done to restore this credibility," said Saikali, of the MSU Muslim Student Association.
More than a dozen speakers addressed the Iraq war throughout the day Thursday at the annual Kessel Peace Institute Conference. A few of the speakers were jointly sponsored by the Muslim Students Association.
Much of the world, a few of the speakers said, views the United States and George W. Bush as a big bully, rumbling into Iraq and imposing its ideology on people. The fluctuating rationale for war, speaker Arafat El-Bakri said, looks quite suspect to the rest of the world, even if most Americans don't vehemently question it.
According to Saikali, one of the biggest reasons why so much of the world is opposed to the Iraq war - Poland recently announced plans to pull all troops out of Iraq, while Italy, Bulgaria and other countries will significantly reduce their troop commitments - is the fact that so many Americans voiced opposition to it, but the administration went ahead anyway.
"The perception of the other side is that this is an immoral war because it is a preemptive war," he said. "No one was attacking us."
MSU political science professor Tom Inglot said that people in Europe have a much different perspective on the war than Americans do.
"They see this primarily as a result of failed U.S. policy in the Middle East," Inglot said.
Muslims around the world are puzzled, said El-Bakri, also of the MSU Muslim Student Association. First the United States spends years funding Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, then they turn around and attack it. When U.S. leaders ask for the world's support, they're not sure what to think.
"If you pull (Hussein's) pants down," El-Bakri said, "you will find written on his rear end, 'Made in the USA.'"
Saikali offered a few solutions. First, there must be dialogue. Without it, nothing can improve. Also, the United States has to realize that Iraq and other countries have functioned as civilized societies for centuries, and they don't necessarily need a superpower to come in and tell them what's wrong with them and how to fix it.
People also should inform themselves on world events, he said. He urged people to ask themselves why Iraq was the target, and not parts of the world where threat seemed more imminent, such as North Korea.
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