Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN2128
2003-04-08 13:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION ON WAR IN IRAQ

Tags:  KMDR JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002128

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR,
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON WAR IN IRAQ

Summary

-- Lead stories in all papers published April 7-8,
focus on developments in the war in Iraq. Front page
reports highlight the "fierce" battles that took place
around Baghdad yesterday. Commentaries April 8 allege
the "Zionism" of Jay Garner

Editorial Commentary

-- "A Zionist prepares to rule Iraq!"

Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(04/08): "The chiefs of the U.S. administration have
disagreed on how to skin the bear even before it was
hunted. The State Department believes that it should
be the party concerned with ruling Iraq after
occupying it and ousting its regime, while the Defense
Department confirms it is the one for the task, and
even went ahead and appointed one of the retired
generals, Jay Garner, for that position. So who is
this Garner? Garner was in charge of supplying food
and shelter for the Kurds during the thirty-country
aggression in 1991. He is now preparing to supervise
the operation of reconstructing Iraq through American
companies and international financing.. The Zionist
bulletin, Forward, that is issued in New York, writes,
with a bit of pride, about the personal aspects of
this General, namely that he is a personal friend of
Sharon's and one of Israel's staunchest supporters..
This is the American plan: to liberate Iraq from its
national leadership and to appoint an American General
who is a personal friend of Sharon's to manage Iraq's
affairs in accordance with the requirements of
Israel's security. Shall we live and see a Zionist
occupying the throne of Aaron Rashid?"

-- "High Commissioner Garner"

Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(04/08): "Why is there not talk about a single
political step that would confirm good intentions?
Why does the United Nations, the European Union and
the Arab League not have a part to play? This is
different. Iraq is a spoil of war for which the
mouths of the extremist right-wing group in Washington
water. Iraq has been in the heart of the thinking of
this Zionist, right-wing America for while. It is a
project with regional ramifications, that the Zionists
could not believe that circumstances have finally

allowed its achievement, and with international
ramifications that would guarantee the U.S.' total
authority over the world for decades to come. The
proposal, therefore, is, simply, occupying Iraq and
managing it to serve a joint American-Israeli account.
Meanwhile, a media campaign that holds contempt for
the Arabs, despising their thinking and their
understanding, portrays the war as a charitable and
heroic action for the sake of the poor Iraqis, and
shamelessly speaks about reconstruction contracts and
oil projects."

-- "America liberated us from itself!"

Columnist Hilmi Al-Asmar writes on the op-ed page of
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(04/07): "Bush's soldiers came to liberate Iraq, but
instead ended up liberating us and accomplishing what
we have failed to achieve, namely unveiling its ugly
face [the United States].. America launched its war
to liberate Iraq from the `dictator', but instead, the
image of that dictator was purged and cleansed from
impurities. He became the defender of his land and
the resister of invaders, while the invader took over
all the descriptions of a dictator, and put on the
mask of the blood-sucking Dracula, and the story of
his leadership of the `free world' turned into a
ridiculous farce. Invading Iraq, whatever the
consequences, is going to rewrite history and correct
many lies that some people tried to pass on as facts.
The most serious of these lies is the portrayal of
America's role as a political mediator between the
Arabs and Israel, when it borrows the diplomacy of the
bulldozer and Sharon's expertise in doing house-to-
house searches."
-- "91% of the Americans support the killing of
Iraqis!"

Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(04/07): "The American newspaper "Washington Post"
said that 91% of the American people are `comfortable
with the ongoing war operations in Iraq' so far. What
does that mean? It means that nine out of ten
Americans find no problem with the way the war is
going . which, in fact, means that they are
comfortable with the killing of Iraqi civilians and
children, the destruction of homes and facilities, the
daily humiliation of people, the theft of oil, and the
occupation of another country. For Americans, the war
is nothing more than a video game that they are
watching on their lying media outlets with their
defense minister displaying a `video clip' of American
missiles and bombs as they explode on Iraqi
`targets'.. The Americans do not see the human
suffering, the suffering of children and women, the
civilian victims, the destroyed homes, the hunger, the
thirst, and they do not care. They do not want to
believe that their forces are using depleted uranium
and cluster bombs, nor do they want to believe that
their forces are kidnapping citizens from their homes
and treating them as prisoners. They watch the news,
are reassured that there are no major number of
victims among their U.S. forces, and are happy that
the oil wells are in the hands of the American army,
and they go on back to their daily lives, running
after dollars, alcohol and booze."

-- "The occupation is the beginning!"

Daily columnist Mohammad Kawash writes on the back
page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab
Al-Yawm (04/07): "The Americans and the British will
eventually come to the realization that the occupation
of Iraq is not the end of the line, that it is not
going to achieve security and stability and open doors
for investment companies. Occupying Iraq will be the
beginning, because Washington has no political
solutions for Iraq that could overcome the historical,
geographical, political and ethnic complexities and
difficulties.. We are certain that the occupation of
Iraq and its tragic repercussions are going to lead to
entrenching the Arabs' and Muslims' feelings of hatred
and animosity towards the United States. This in turn
is going to lead to the creation of a state of
instability inside Iraq that would extend to a number
of countries in the region. This means that the
entire region is at the threshold of a wave of
violence, the consequences of which cannot be
predicted.. These measures and plans are part and
parcel of an America's project to liquidate the
Palestinian issue, to reshape the Middle East, to
nullify the Arab order, and to turn this region into
small sectarian and ethnic states, which would nullify
the joint Arab action and the Arab identity."
GNEHM