MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 004477

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 IRAQ


Summary

-- The lead story in all papers today, July 21,
highlights King Abdullah's instruction to the current
Prime Minister to dissolve and reform a cabinet to
coincide with the formation of the newly-elected
Jordanian parliament. The new government is expected
to be announced today. Other lead stories highlight
"continued military and political deterioration" in
Iraq, with the killing of more U.S. soldiers. Front-
page reports emphasized a "lack of movement" in the
recent meetings between Israeli PM Sharon and
Palestinian PM Abbas, particularly on the issue of the
release of Palestinian prisoners.

Editorial Commentary

-- "America's Political Parties in Iraq are Becoming
Isolated"

Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(07/20): "Once again, we feel optimistic, not just
because of the escalating resistance against the
occupation, but also because of the return to life of
Iraqi society, even though this is being done through
sectarianism never known in Iraq before. It does not
matter as long as this sectarianism is increasingly
supporting anti-occupation slogans and is in defense
of the freedom and independence of Iraq. The
demonstrations that took place in Baghdad, Koufa,
Basra and other Iraqi cities stressed that `America's
parties' that have arrived aboard American tanks are
now besieged and isolated, as the Iraqi people prove,
day in and day out, that they will not be an American
`colony'."

-- "Why the resistance?"

Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(07/21): "Every action has an equal reaction that is
reversed in direction, and the reaction to a foreign
occupation is national resistance. This is a sacred
law of nature, which cannot be weakened by some of
those who are cooperating with the occupiers on the
pretext that the occupation is a reality and must thus
be acknowledged and cooperated with. What applies to
the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza
applies to the American occupation of Iraq.
Resistance is not only the right of the people who
reside under the occupation, but is their duty.. We
will likely soon see, under the impact of the
resistance, an attempt to internationalize or Arabize
the occupation by brining in mercenary armies that
would implement the will and desire of the occupation
and save the blood of the American soldiers."

-- "The scapegoat"

Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(07/21): "Whether it was an assassination or a
suicide, the death of DAVID Kelly, the British WMD
expert, is the beginning for exposing the biggest lie
in the history of international politics. The cost of
this lie must be paid by those who perpetrated it by
completely ending their political lives, and here we
are referring to Tony Blair and George Bush. The
leaders of the two biggest democratic countries in the
world have been lying to their people, to the world
and to the media throughout the months that preceded
the war on Iraq. We in the Arab world have always
known it was a lie.. This political scandal must be
paid for by George Bush and Tony Blair alone. DAVID
Kelly and George Tenet must not become the scapegoats
for the biggest political lie in the history of the
United States and Britain. Most importantly, the
American and British people must never believe any
similar lies that would be told against Iran or
Syria."
-- "With the Iraqi people's choice"

Daily columnist Musa Hawamdeh writes on the op-ed page
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(07/21): "I have been surprised that some people
continue to refer to an article I wrote after the fall
of Baghdad in which I criticized the former Iraqi
regime, although I did not overlook the American and
Zionist motives in Iraq, and expressed my categorical
rejection of the war. Some people misinterpreted my
criticism as welcoming the Americans and the British
to occupy Iraq. This is utterly false.. Some people
want to prevent us from expressing our opinion freely
and honestly, as if our criticism of the Iraqi
President's policy justifies or supports the
occupation. I do not know who would promote the
current thinking that you are either with Saddam, a
victim or a victimizer, or with the Americans, as if
you cannot reject the American occupation and reject
the policy of the former regime together.. I still
believe that the Saddam Hussein regime committed major
and fatal errors. True, his only good-doing is marked
by his stand against the United States and Israel
after 1991, his call for liberating Palestine from the
sea to the river, although he did go into Kuwait in
1990 and into Iran in 1980 instead of Palestine, and
the fact that he has an Arab nationalistic thinking.
However, that does not prevent seeing the negative
aspects and the disastrous policies of this regime,
its contempt for freedom of expression, and its use of
the security and intelligence apparatus to crack down
against intellectuals and journalists. All these
errors, however, do not give America the right to
occupy Iraq, change its regime, cancel its army and
its party, and form the sectarian governing council.
We support the Iraqi resistance whatever its direction
is, and if Saddam has something to do with it, we
still support the resistance. We believe that Saddam
will not return as a president for Iraq and the
Iraqis, and that they alone are the masters of their
political future. We, however, support the expulsion
of the Americans and the British from Iraq by all
means possible and we believe no cooperation, whether
on the Iraqi or Arab level, should take place with
this unjust occupation."

-- "Who killed DAVID Kelly?"

Columnist Usama Sharif writes on the op-ed page of
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(07/21): "Clearly, the Iraqi issue, in both its
military and political aspects, is going to upset the
leaders of the Anglo-American coalition for a long
time, and may even threaten the hopes of the two
leaders of remaining in power. While resistance
actions against the occupation are escalating and more
and more American soldiers are falling in the streets
of Iraqi cities and villages, the threads of the
political scandal are unraveling and public opinion
increasingly believes that its government meant to
mislead it to impose the option of going to war. The
question that follows Kelly's death is why did Blair
and Bush resort to these tricks to launch the war and
what is the real reason for occupying Iraq? More
importantly, will this scandal oust the two most
powerful leaders in the world?"

HALE