Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN6562
2003-10-14 14:12:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ AND MIDDLE EAST

Tags:  KMDR JO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006562

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 AND MIDDLE EAST

Summary

-- Lead stories in all papers today, October 14, focus
on King Abdullah's visit to Singapore to attend the
Asian Economic Summit, and highlight a number of
domestic activities, including the Jordanian Economic
Forum. Front-page reports in all papers continue to
highlight developments on the Iraqi front as well as
the Palestinian-Israeli front, particularly focusing
on the Israeli "massacre" in Rafah. Over the weekend,
papers highlighted the October 10 meeting that took
place between Israelis and Palestinians at the Dead
Sea to talk about peace process issues.

Editorial Commentary

-- "Jordan and Iraq: two aspects to their
relationship"

Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(10/14): "Jordan's relationship with Iraq, under the
foreign occupation, has two aspects. The first is a
political aspect. This is represented by the fact
that Jordan does not recognize the governing council
in Baghdad but nevertheless deals with it, which is
not only a Jordanian approach, but also one that is
endorsed by the Arab League, the U.N. General Assembly
and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Yet,
Jordan alone opposes Ahmad Chalabi, who is considered
Washington's ally in the governing council. It is
also represented by the fact that Jordan opposes a
federation in Iraq, as proposed by America and the
governing council. Jordan also opposes sending
Turkish, Syrian, Iranian, Saudi or Jordanian troops to
Iraq, on the principle that it does not serve Iraq and
the Iraqis. In addition, Jordan wants a speedy
transfer of authority to the Iraqis.. The second
aspect of the relationship with Iraq under occupation
is one that raises much unspoken controversy among
Jordanians, such as the training of thousands of Iraqi
policemen or helping in the rebuilding of some civil
institutions there. There are those who believe that
Jordan is `hasty' in undertaking these steps, and that
patience is in order until the volatile events in Iraq
are resolved, and yet, there is no real Jordanian
popular opposition to these steps. Some compare
Jordan's relationship with Iraq (under occupation)
with its relationship with the West Bank and Gaza
(under occupation),in terms of contributing to the

people's steadfastness and maintaining nationalism."

-- "Running from Iraq"

Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(10/14): "The U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
yesterday gave up the task of reconstructing Iraq and
said that it is an issue left for the Iraqis to
decide. As for the U.S. Secretary of State, he has
been working hard to transfer the security task in
Iraq to the United Nations and to Arab and
international peacekeeping forces. America's
objective is no longer to bring good things but to
ease losses, and all this is due to the resistance,
which has just started. The U.S. administration
presented the aggression against Iraq as part of the
war on international terrorism. The result was the
destruction of a stable country that did not exercise
terrorism and did not have relations with terrorist
organizations, and turning it into an open arena for
terrorist organization. In other words, America waged
war to get the terrorists out of Afghanistan and then
waged another war to find a new location for them in
Iraq. Where is the Iraqi democracy that America
claimed would be a model to be followed for the entire
region? Where is the reconstruction that American
companies thought would be an easy task? Where is the
security and stability in the region that America
claimed Iraq impedes? What happened to the peace
process in Palestine that Iraq was supposedly
hindering? The American project in Iraq is completely
bankrupt. The question is whether America will run
backward or forward."

-- "The Palestinian-Israeli dialogue in Jordan"

Daily columnist Sultan Hattab writes on the op-ed page
of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(10/14): "The Dead Sea meeting is important because
the interlocutors were either in official positions,
like some of the Palestinian delegates, or were very
close to the Israeli decision-making levels, or even
from the heart of the Israeli political parties.. The
content of the document is a step forward in this grim
reality where Sharon continuously forfeits his
responsibilities by continuing the aggression. The
U.S. administration, which is in alliance with the
Israeli right-wing and performs the Israeli role more
than the Israelis themselves, should stop a little to
see that there are Israeli and Palestinian parties who
are still gripping the thread of hope leading to
dialogue and agreement. If the U.S. administration
and the Arabs would support this effort to make of it
a solid mutual initiative, then there might be a way
to work forward, instead of this complete loss in the
roadmap, which has already been uprooted and deformed
by Sharon."

-- "The hour of truth: no hope for peace"

Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(10/13): "The decision to send Turkish forces to Iraq
and the escalation of the Israeli-American military
and political intervention policy in Syria and Lebanon
are indications for the serious potential for wars and
confrontations to spread. Since no one cares anymore
about the fate of the roadmap of the Palestinian
cause, the language that prevails now is that of
threats and military campaigns, as we see in Iraq and
in the West Bank and Gaza. These are campaigns where
citizens pay a huge price, where houses are broken
into, where women and children are made scared and
where men are arrested because they reject the foreign
occupation. This is the current image of the east
part of the Arab world following the fall of Baghdad
and following this entrenched alliance between the
U.S. president and the Israeli Prime Minister. With
this image, the Dead Sea meeting between Israelis and
Palestinians seems to be out of context and a weak
lost voice among the thundering noise of Israeli tanks
in Rafah and Jenin.. In short, this region, which has
been drowned with the idea of the need to get rid of
the Iraqi dictator on the pretext of establishing
security and stability, is now facing the hour of
truth, namely that security, stability and peace are
lost now because the Arab land has turned into arenas
for the invading Americans, British and Israelis and
because colonialist schemes have been revitalized once
more."
HALE