Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ABUDHABI1744
2003-04-12 10:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: CHAOS IN BAGHDAD LOOTING IN IRAQ

Tags:  OIIP KMDR TC 
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Diana T Fritz 05/24/2007 04:33:30 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results

Cable 
Text: 
 
 
UNCLASSIFIED

SIPDIS
TELEGRAM April 12, 2003


To: No Action Addressee 

Action: Unknown 

From: AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI (ABU DHABI 1744 - UNKNOWN) 

TAGS: OIIP, KMDR 

Captions: None 

Subject: MEDIA REACTION: CHAOS IN BAGHDAD LOOTING IN IRAQ 
 SYRIA'S NEXT 

Ref: None 
_________________________________________________________________
UNCLAS ABU DHABI 01744

SIPDIS
CXABU:
 ACTION: PAO 
 INFO: ECON POL AMB DCM 
Laser1:
 ACTION: PAO 

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:KVANDEVATE
DRAFTED: PAO:AHOSHAN
CLEARED: PAO:TPONCE

VZCZCADI293
OO RUEHC RUENAAA RUEKJCS RUEHZM RUEHLO RUEHFR
RHRMDAB RUCJACC RUCQSOC
DE RUEHAD #1744/01 1021038
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121038Z APR 03
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9364
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0636
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0692
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RUCJACC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
RUCQSOC/USCINCSOC MACDILL AFB FL//PA//
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001744 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CHAOS IN BAGHDAD LOOTING IN IRAQ
SYRIA'S NEXT


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001744

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CHAOS IN BAGHDAD LOOTING IN IRAQ
SYRIA'S NEXT



1. SUMMARY: THE FALL OF BAGHDAD TO COALITION FORCES AND LOOTING
IN IRAQI CITIES DOMINATED COVERAGE IN UAE MEDIA. PRESIDENT
BUSH'S AND PRIME MINISTER BLAIR'S STATEMENTS TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
RECEIVED POSITIVE COVERAGE IN BOTH PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA.
UAE MEDIA DEVOTED EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY TO THE ROLE OF COALITION
FORCES IN POST-WAR IRAQ BUT ALLEGED SYRIA IS THE NEXT U.S.
TARGET. AN "AL KHALEEJ" EDITORIAL DESCRIBED THE IMAGES OF
LOOTING IS A DELIBERATE "DISTORTION OF THE IMAGE OF IRAQ AND ITS
PEOPLE." AN "AL BAYAN" EDITORIAL CRITICIZED U.S. TROOPS FOR
THEIR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SECURITY IN BAGHDAD. IN "AL BAYAN," UAE
COLUMNIST AYSHA SULTAN CONDEMNED COALITION FORCES FOR THEIR
LACKADAISICAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ANARCHY IN BAGHDAD. IN A RARE
EDITORIAL, ABDUL HAMID AHMAD, GULF NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LAMENTS
THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH IRAQIS HAVE FOUND THEMSELVES. END
SUMMARY.


2. DESCRIBING THE SITUATION IN IRAQ AS A DELIBERATE "DISTORTION
OF THE IMAGE OF IRAQ AND ITS PEOPLE," SHARJAH-BASED PAN-ARAB
DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" EDITORIALIZED 4/12:

"... THE HAPPINESS REGARDING THE DOWNFALL OF THE REGIME IS ONE
THING, BUT THE LOOTING OF THE GOVERNMENT INSTITUTES, MINISTRIES,
HOSPITALS, AND EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS SUCH AS UNIVERSITIES IS
SOMETHING ELSE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND WHICH HAS A VERY
DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCE FOR THE FUTURE OF IRAQ, PARALLEL TO THE
DANGERS OF ITS OCCUPATION. THERE IS DELIBERATE DISTORTION OF THE
IMAGE OF IRAQ AND ITS PEOPLE ... WHAT IRAQ IS FACING NOW, THE
CHAOS AND LOOTING, SERVES ONLY AMERICAN INTERESTS, INCLUDING THE
INTERESTS OF THE ZIONIST ENTITY ..."


3. UNDER THE HEADLINE "WHO WILL SAVE BAGHDAD?," DUBAI-BASED
BUSINESS-ORIENTED ARABIC DAILY "AL-BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 4/12:

"... WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN BAGHDAD AND ELSEWHERE IN IRAQI CITIES
MAKES OUR HEARTS BLEED. THE FOREIGN TROOPS ALONE BEAR
RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND IT IS AS IF THEY WANT
TO DESTROY EVERYTHING AND TO DISPLAY THE ARAB PEOPLE IN IRAQ IN A
DISTORTED PICTURE. AND THE ARABS (SORRY TO SAY) ARE STILL
WATCHING BAGHDAD. ISN'T IT TIME TO DO SOMETHING TO SAVE THEIR
OWN IMAGES?"


4. CRITICIZING THE ATTITUDE OF THE COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ, UAE

COLUMNIST AYSHA SULTAN WROTE IN "AL BAYAN" ON 4/12:

"... WHAT IS OCCURRING IS CRUEL AND BRUTAL ON THE SOUL AND THE
EYES AND REPRESENTS AN EPISODE IN THE SERIES OF INVASIONS. EVEN
WHEN THE MONGOLS INVADED BAGHDAD, THEY THEMSELVES LOOTED, RAPED,
MASSACRED, DESTROYED GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, AND WENT INTO MOSQUES,
HOUSES, AND LIBRARIES THAT WERE EMPTIED OF ALL THEIR BOOKS AND
THROWN IN THE RIVERS OF IRAQ! TODAY, AMERICANS ARE NOT DOING
THAT WITH THEIR OWN HANDS, SO THEY WON'T BE ACCUSED OF BEING
THIEVES, SINCE THEY CAME AS 'PROPHETS' TO THIS REGION IN ORDER TO
SAVE IT FROM THE DARKNESS OF DICTATORS AND TAKE IT INTO THE LIGHT
OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM. THE AMERICANS LEFT THE POOR AND HUNGRY
TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE COUNTRY'S INFRASTRUCTURE, ITS CIVILIZATION,
AND THE IMAGE OF ITS GREAT PEOPLE, WHILE THEY OBSERVE AND LEAVE
THE WORLD TO WATCH THIS CRISIS!"


5. COMMENTING ON THE LOOTING IN IRAQ, COLUMNIST ABU KHALDOUN
WROTE IN "AL KHALEEJ" ON 4/12:

"... I DON'T THINK PRESIDENT BUSH SHOULD BE HAPPY WHEN HE WATCHES
A FEW IRAQIS CELEBRATE THE INVASION OF U.S. FORCES, SINCE THESE
ARE ONLY A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE AND ARE A GROUP OF THIEVES. THE
PERSON WHO LOOTS HIS NEIGHBOR OR GOVERNMENT CAN'T HELP BUT ACT
LIKE THIS, AS HE CELEBRATES THE HIGHWAY ROBBERS WHO GAVE HIM AN
OPPORTUNITY TO STEAL. AS FOR THE DISCRETE IRAQI PERSON, HE JUST
CLOSED HIS HOUSE DOOR SO HE WOULDN'T SEE THE INVADERS IN HIS
LAND."


6. CLAIMING THAT IRAQ IS ONLY FIRST U.S. TARGET IN THE REGION,
"AL KHALEEJ" EDITORIALIZED 4/11:

"... WHEN THE U.S. THREW ITS FIRST BOMB UNDER ITS MOTTO FOR THE
'LIBERATION' OF IRAQ, IT WAS A NEW ERA OF OCCUPATION. IT WAS THE
FIRST BOMB AGAINST ALL ARABS AND THEIR RIGHTS AND IT WON'T BE THE
LAST. BAGHDAD IS ONLY THE FIRST PIECE IN AN CHAIN OF ARAB
COUNTRIES THAT WILL FALL. CHOOSING IRAQ AS THE FIRST TARGET WAS
NOT A RANDOM STEP SINCE IT IS THE BIGGEST, RICHEST, AND MOST
POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST ..."


7. IN A RARE FRONT-PAGE EDITORIAL UNDER THE HEADLINE "IRAQ FOR
IRAQIS," GULF NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ABDUL HAMID AHMAD WROTE ON
4/10:

"THIS IS A HEART-BREAKING MOMENT FOR ANY ARAB SEEING MARINES
ROAMING THE STREETS OF BAGHDAD, THE CAPITAL OF CALIPH AL RASHID
... AS MUCH AS AN ARAB IS PLEASED TO SEE HIS IRAQI BROTHERS FREE
FROM THE YOKE OF DICTATORSHIP WHICH HUMILIATED AND TORTURED THEM
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, HIS HEART BREAKS FROM DEPRESSION AND PAIN
SEEING THIS SAD END TO BAGHDAD, THE CAPITAL OF IRAQ, COLLAPSING
UNDER THE CHAINS OF MARINES' TANKS. THIS IS A TOUGH, SAD AND
PAINFUL MOMENT WITH OUR FEELINGS LEAVING US SPEECHLESS ... WE
WISHED THAT THIS END WOULD HAVE COME AT THE HANDS OF HIS OWN
PEOPLE, NOT AT THE HANDS OF THE MARINES. TODAY HE (SADDAM)
BROUGHT THEM TO THE CAPITAL OF IRAQ, BAGHDAD OF AL RASHID AND AL
MUTANABBI. WE HAVE NO RELIEF BUT IN SEEING IRAQIS REGAIN THEIR
FREEDOM AND RISING TO BUILD THEIR COUNTRY AND GOVERN THEMSELVES,
COOPERATING WITH ARABS IN PEACE AND JUST-LOVING PEOPLES TO FIGHT
TYRANNY, ILLNESS, HUNGER, AND IGNORANCE AND OTHER FOES OF
HUMANKIND.

WAHBA