The Arab world really blew it with the decapitating of American civilian Nick Berg in Iraq, says the Daily Star, a major English-language Middle East newspaper.

How quickly events in the Middle East overtake what was yesterday's headlines....the beheading of Berg has eclipsed the shame and failure of the US and its allies over the Abu Ghraib scandal....the region's kings, princes and presidents need to learn a valuable lesson from this abhorrent incident: that fractured societies produce real-life theaters of shame like the Berg murder in a systemic manner, and that similar fractures are infecting their own societies.

If the Berg beheading does not catapult the region's leaders from the world of lethargy to the world of vigorous action to establish law and order in their own societies - and beginning with themselves - then they will be considerably weakened. They need to prove that their vision extends beyond their own vested interests to their people and societies. What more is needed to galvanize Arab leaders into action? Today, a man named Berg was put to the sword; tomorrow, it could be the Arab nation torn asunder by the same savagery. A reassessment of the concept of "leadership" is urgently required, and the Arab summit scheduled for May 22-23 would be an excellent place to begin.

The U.S. faces its own grave challenges: dealing with Abu Ghraib fully; advancing real solutions to the Arab-Palestinian conflict; and developing a winning strategy leading to orderly self-rule in Iraq (a huge task, especially if lacking the political will to win).

But, as the Star editorial stresses (read the whole thing), the Berg execution was not only savage, but a huge tactical and public relations blunder by the other side.

UPDATE: Take a look at these three letters to the editor of the Washington Post.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 12, 2004 06:01 PM

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