With the U.S.-led Iraqi war nearing completion, the grumblings from beyond Iraq are growing louder. Some Arabs are demanding the U.S. get out of the region now that their task is accomplished. Others are hoping the U.S. campaign will be a catalyst for change.

Ali Salem, Egyptian playwright and writer for the Egyptian magazine Rose el-Youssef, hopes the American campaign in Iraq will enable the Middle East to finally achieve democracy. But he also says that Arabs do not want reform and change to be imposed on them by foreigners.

Geneive Abdo, Boston Globe correspondent covering the Middle East and co-author of “Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First Century Iran” says that there are some moderate Islamists in Egypt who hope to benefit from the establishment of a potential pluralistic society in Iraq.

Click the “Listen” link to hear about sentiments in the Arab world in support and against the American intervention and presence in Iraq.

Guests:

Ali Salem, Egyptian playwright and writer for the Egyptian magazine Rose el-Youssef

Geneive Abdo, Boston Globe correspondent covering the Middle East and co-author of “Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First Century Iran.”