Word: arabized
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...leader of the world's most populous Arab country, Mubarak cannot afford to fail. If Iraq is defeated badly, Egypt will emerge as the dominant Arab military power in both the gulf and the Middle East region. How skillfully Mubarak exercises that leadership will help determine whether the region recovers from the crisis triggered by Saddam Hussein or descends into a nightmare of disorder...
...skinflint management offer that both sides know perfectly well are a charade). The Baghdad announcement marks "the beginning of the endgame," said William Quandt, a former chief Middle East analyst at the National Security Council. Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed: "In the Arab world, you always have to be prepared for bargaining, and this may be the opening gambit." And Saddam, for all his intense stubbornness, could reverse course overnight if that seems necessary or desirable. Witness his blithe return to Iran last summer of the pitifully little territory Iraq had gained during...
That reaction would not have saved Saddam in any case, though. Strong as the Arab anger was, it was not quite sufficient to shake the governments (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria) that have made major troop commitments to the coalition. The U.S. and its European allies suffered little if any public backlash against the war. In retrospect, generals played down too much the inevitability of civilian deaths in any bombing campaign. But Westerners, while shocked, seemed to accept the explanations that the U.S. was not directly targeting civilians; that Saddam in contrast was deliberately putting them in harm...
Domestic pollsters have reported to Bush that a rise in U.S. casualties could quickly erode public support for the war. Bush is also worried about a possible softening of resolve among Arab allies and about how long Israel will wait before striking back from the Scud attacks. Putting the pieces together in this jagged and frenzied puzzle is one of the toughest challenges any modern President has faced...
...against him should stop, fewer soldiers would die, not more. So invoking the sacrifices of our fighting troops is a red herring. But critics of the reporting from Baghdad make a more elaborate argument as well. Scenes of dead Iraqis, they say, will inflame the famously flammable Arab masses. Uprisings will threaten the Arab governments in the anti-Saddam coalition. This could force President Bush to start a ground war earlier than he otherwise might. And therefore more soldiers would...