In an interview last month on Al-Arabiya TV, former Saudi Shura Council member Ibrahim Al-Buleihi said that Arab individualism has been erased, rendering the Arab "incapable of independent thinking," and that what prevails is "the spirit of the herd that cannot free itself from the captivity of the prevailing culture."
In the interview, which aired on February 26, 2010, Al-Buleihi sang the praises of Western civilization, saying that notions such as human rights are not "an accumulated achievement, in which all societies played a role, but an achievement of the West." Arab societies "should benefit from this rich experience," rather than remaining "a burden on the West."
"Tyranny is a tremendous obstacle, which makes any progress impossible," said Al-Buleihi. On the situation in post-Saddam Iraq, he said: "Iraq has not been permitted to achieve stability. The whole world has intervened in its affairs." He viewed Western intervention in Iraq as a positive thing, comparing the situation to that of Japan after World War II. |