The speaker considered that the invasion and occupation
of Iraq since 2003 mark a new stage in American world
hegemony. The invasion, occupation and subsequent
restructuring of Iraq by American hands has taken place
without justification in international law. In Iraq, despite
the crimes of the Saddam Hussein regime, there was
no justification for the invasion in 2003. To understand
the limits of the political influence of Arab-Americans,
although there are perhaps 4 million of them, it is essential
to understand how poorly assimilated most of them are
into American society. Many of them still do not speak
English well or are not citizens, and a few are illiterate.
Many were not educated in the US and do not understand
how the American political system works. Furthermore,
many of them live isolated from the larger society around
them. It is not hard to understand that the impact on
American politics of people in such circumstances is
limited. For the above mentioned reasons, the speaker
excluded the expectation of a significant impact by Arab-
Americans in American politics at the moment; however,
he expressed his optimism about the critical changes in
the future social sphere that will contribute toward social
integration and enable this segment of society to employ
their unique abilities as powerful tools in American politics.