MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ

UNCLAS AMMAN 006935 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 -- Lead story in all papers over the past five days focuses on the formation of the new 21-member Cabinet in Jordan under the leadership of Prime Minister Faisal Akef Al-Fayez, with the elimination of the Ministries of Information and Culture, the appointment of three women ministers, and the introduction of the new portfolio of Ministry of Political Development. Lead stories in all papers today, October 27, highlight the attack against Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz was staying. Another major story highlights Israel's "largest" demolition of three apartment towers, which housed over 2,000 Palestinians, in Gaza. Editorial Commentary -- "Wolfowitz under fire" Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (10/27): "Paul Wolfowitz, the prominent theorizer of the ruling right-wing's trend in Washington, was lucky to have had the experience of personally understanding the meaning of drowning in the Iraqi swamp, as 29 missiles were launched at the hotel where he was staying. The operation indicates the effectives of the resistance and the high degree of its organization, and that was not the only resistance action that day.. Does this say anything to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz? If his answer is no, it is not so for the American people.. The U.S. administration will definitely not conclude that it must pack its troops out and leave Iraq for the strongest to take over. Yes, the U.S. administration may conclude that its mission is not to be victorious over the resistance, to squash it and put an end to its existence, rather to pull the rug from under its feet through political steps that nullify the reason for its existence." GNEHM