MEDIA REACTION: BUSH'S IRAQ VISIT; SHARON'S GOVERNMENT

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 005136

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 MOC, GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: BUSH'S IRAQ VISIT; SHARON'S GOVERNMENT



1. SUMMARY: "AL-KHALEEJ" AND "GULF NEWS" FEEL THAT BUSH'S VISIT
TO IRAQ WAS A FAILURE, BOTH AS A MEANS TO BOOST THE LOW MORAL OF
US TROOPS IN IRAQ AND AS A PUBLIC RELATION PLOY IN HIS REELECTION
CAMPAIGN. ANOTHER EDITORIAL ALSO IN "AL-KHALEEJ" OPINES THAT
SHARON'S US-BACKED GOVERNMENT HAS CLOSED ALL DOORS FOR PEACE AND
IMPLICITLY CALLS ON ALL PALESTINIAN FACTIONS TO RECONSIDER THEIR
CALCULATIONS AND USE ALL MEANS TO LIBERATE THE TERRITORIES. END
SUMMARY.


2. UNDER THE HEADLINE "A FAILED VISIT", SHARJAH-BASED AND PAN-
ARAB DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" 11/29 EDITORIALIZED:

"FOR BUSH TO VISIT IRAQ, THAT IS NORMAL AND POSSIBLE. NO ONE CAN
DETER HIM OR PREVENT HIM. THE COUNTRY IS OCCUPIED FOR EIGHT
MONTHS AND THE ABSOLUTE POWER IS IN THE HANDS OF THE AMERICAN
GOVERNOR PAUL BREMER, AND BEHIND HIM ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY
THOUSAND SOLDIERS EQUIPPED WITH THE MOST UP-TO-DATE AND ADVANCED
WEAPONS IMPOSING THEIR CONTROL ON THE ENTIRE NATION AND ITS
PEOPLE FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH. HOW COULD THE AMERICAN
SOLDIERS WHO ARE TIRED AND SCARED DEAL WITH THIS VISIT, WHEN
THEIR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ARRIVES IN A SITUATION CLOUDED BY
AMBIGUITY AND SECRECY? HE CAME FAST AND LEFT FAST AND WAS NOT
RECEIVED AS HE SHOULD AS A COMMANDER BY HIS OWN SOLDIERS AND NOT
AS A LIBERATOR BY THE PEOPLE WHO HE CLAIMS TO HAVE LIBERATED TO
LEAD THEM ON THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY. THE VISIT WAS NOT MEANT TO
BOOST THE MORAL OF HIS SOLDIERS; THEREFORE, IT HAD ANOTHER GOAL
RELATED TO THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND HIS AMBITIONS
FOR A SECOND TENURE. THE VISIT WAS A PUBLIC RELATIONS GESTURE
AIMED AT AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION. EVEN THIS GESTURE MAY NOT BE
IN HIS INTEREST AND MAY BACKFIRE BECAUSE THE PUBLIC WHICH SEES
THEIR PRESIDENT BEHAVE IN SUCH A MANNER WILL BE OVERWHELMED WITH
DOUBT REGARDING HIS POLICIES AND PRACTICES. FORMER PRESIDENT
JOHNSON VISITED VIETNAM AND TOOK PICTURE WITH THE AMERICAN
SOLDIERS WHO WERE FIGHTING THERE, BUT THAT DID NOT DO HIM ANY
GOOD WHEN HE DECIDED TO RUN FOR ANOTHER TERM. HAD BUSH STAYED
WITH HIS FAMILY TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
BETTER THAN SNEAKING IN AS IF SCARED TO MEET WITH HIS ENRAGED AND
FEARFUL SOLDIERS."


3. CHIEF EDITOR OF THE DUBAI-BASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY "GULF
NEWS" WROTE 11/30:

"THE HEAD OF STATE OF THE STRONGEST NATION ON EARTH WILL NOT
NORMALLY MAKE A SNEAKY AND PANICKY VISIT TO A COUNTRY WHICH IS
WHOLLY OCCUPIED BY HIS TROOPS, UNLESS HE IS TERRIFIED AND UNSURE
OF HIS OWN SAFETY. THAT WAS WHAT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH DID
WHEN HE SNEAKED INTO BAGHDAD TO TRY TO LIFT THE MORALE OF HIS
SOLDIERS.BUT THE TRIP WAS COUNTER PRODUCTIVE BECAUSE BUSH APPEARS
TO HAVE DEMORALIZED HIS TROOPS, AS THE VISIT WAS SURROUNDED BY
LIES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. IN DOING SO, BUSH HAS CONFIRMED THE
ARAB SAYING: "TRYING TO IMPROVE IT, HE SPOILED IT.. THE U.S.
ADMINISTRATION COULD HAVE ANNOUNCED BUSH'S VISIT IN ADVANCE AND
AT THE SAME TIME TAKEN PRECAUTIONARY SECURITY MEASURES. I CANNOT
SEE ANY CONTRADICTION IN SUCH A PROCEDURE GIVEN THE UNITED
STATES' ENORMOUS MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE MIGHT. WITH SUCH A
WELL-PREPARED VISIT, BUSH COULD HAVE SENT A STRONG MESSAGE OF
SELF-CONFIDENCE AND TRIUMPH TO HIS DEMORALIZED FORCES IN IRAQ."


4. UNDER THE HEADLINE "THE ALTERNATIVE FOR PEACE", "AL-KHALEEJ"
11/30 EDITORIALIZED:

".SINCE THE SHARON GOVERNMENT HAS BLOCKED ALL DOORS BEFORE ANY
EFFORTS TO REACH A SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE, AND SINCE THE US
PUBLICLY SIDES BY ISRAEL IN ITS AGGRESSION, THE PALESTINIAN
FACTIONS AND ORGANIZATION SHOULD MAKE A NEW CALCULATION AND DEAL
WITH THE OCCUPATION AS A REALITY THAT SHOULD BE ELIMINATED BY ALL
MEANS AND TOOLS AVAILABLE... THE ALTERNATIVE BY ISRAEL AND
AMERICA IS TO FORCE THE PALESTINIAN TO KNEEL DOWN, BREAK THEIR
WILL AND IMPOSE SURRENDER ON THEM AND LATER ON ALL ARABS."

ALBRIGHT