20060104
       In an under reported news event, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai died 4 January 2006 while on vacation in Australia.
         While many do not know the Sheikh’s name, he was one of the visionary leaders who helped establish the United Arab Emirates in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s as the British completed their pullout of the Persian Gulf. The Sheikh, as leader of the UAE member Dubai, helped transform the poor and backward states of the UAE into a modern nation and a leader in the Arab world.
         Among the Sheikh’s accomplishments are his active role in guiding the Arabs of his nation toward modernity and peaceful coexistence with the West. That leadership resulted in the ongoing alliance of the UAE with the US and its Western allies during Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom.
         As a result, the UAE is arguably the most open and Western friendly of the Arab nations, a fact that is often lost to the media. Far too often, the media ignores the West’s quiet Arab allies- Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE, in favor of sensationalizing the going on in nations like Iran, Iran, or the Palestinian territories. This marginalization is unfortunate, because it creates the very kind of resentment that fuels the radical Islamic war against the West.
         Americans would do well to remember Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, because the world needs far more men like him to bring about and ensure peace in the Arab world.
DLH
With Isreal’s leader probably out of the picture because of health and the UAE’s leader gone, I wonder what direction will be taken by their governments.
Keneil
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