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Following are excerpts from an interview by Egyptian reformist thinker Tareq Heggy, which aired on Mihwar TV on February 27, 2006.
Tareq Heggy: Whenever I travel to the American capital - over the years, I have visited 30-50 Middle East research institutes - I find either Israelis or American Jews in the influential positions of all these centers.
There are two ways of looking at this. One way is to curse them and say: "There is no point to anything, they are all the same." The other way is to say that these people have made a great effort which is something I should have done, but I didn't.
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We assume that America means the president only. America is greater than that. I am not saying that we should either love or hate America, but we should understand it. America means Congress, the State Department, the Department of Defense, the research institutes, the civil society...
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America is a jungle of organizations that you need to understand. You must conduct a dialogue with them. If you ask me if conducting such a dialogue is easy - it is very difficult. It requires a very high level of English. You must understand the Western and Anglo-Saxon mind. You must understand that interests are the basis of political thought.
The English say "fair enough." There is no equivalent in the Arabic language. Why? In Arabic, it is either "fair" or "unfair." "Fair enough" is a relative concept. This is how the Anglo-Saxon mind operates. It is a pragmatic mind. It is based on pragmatism, utilitarianism, and interests.
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We always ignore the fact that along with the power of weapons, the power of politics, and the power of money, there is a fourth power - the power of knowledge. We are very weak in this aspect.
Interviewer: What about America?
Tareq Heggy: America is also very weak, that's why it is toyed with.
Interviewer: Who is strong then?
Tareq Heggy: Europe and all the Jewish organizations in the world.
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I know that all the Arab ambassadors [to the U.S.] are friendly with the Middle East Institute. This is the last place I would go to. Why? Because it supports us [Arabs] very much. Why should I go to Ned Walker, former ambassador to Egypt, who heads this institute, and is already with us?
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Ahmadinejad, who was recently elected [in Iran] - sometimes when I watch him speak, the message I get from his is: "Oh you, who want to attack me - hurry up." Is this the role of a politician? What do you have to do with issues like...? Can any reasonable person believe we can take Israel and place it in East Germany?
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I am very pessimistic about Iran.
Interviewer: Is it possible that Iran will be attacked?
Tareq Heggy: I do not know, but "the driver" over there is like someone who insists on driving a car, after emptying the brake fluids, and without wearing glasses... He is going downhill without brakes, not knowing the consequences of his actions.
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