Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN7420
2003-11-16 13:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. 161316Z Nov 03
UNCLAS AMMAN 007420
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: AMMAN, MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ
Summary
-- Lead story in all papers today, November 16, focuses on
reports about the two blasts against two synagogues in
Istanbul, including the international and regional reaction
and condemnation of the attacks. Another lead story focuses
on Iraq-related developments, including the downing of two
Blackhawk U.S. helicopters in Mosul, Iraq, and the Iraqi
Governing Council's announcement of a timetable for handing
over power to the Iraqis, inclusive of a Iraqi elections
before the end of 2005. On the domestic front, all papers
focus on newly-appointed Prime Minister Faisal Fayez' visit
to the Jordanian dailies, where he emphasized the need for a
"free media" that "is capable of serving the state, its
leadership and its institutions", and not just a "government
media".
Editorial Commentary
-- "The Iraqi resistance is making events"
Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(11/16): "Continuing to pretend not to know the source of
the daily attacks against the occupying forces in Iraq has
become funny. Besides, no one can ignore the fact that
Saddam Hussein and Al-Baa'th regime are the ones leading the
resistance in Iraq, that this resistance has brought
dramatic and conclusive changes to events in Iraq, and that
the story about America's enthusiasm to hand over power to
the Iraqis is nothing but the fruit of this resistance. It
is early to say that the United States will withdraw from
Iraq, but it is not far from the truth to say that the Bush
administration has actually linked the Iraq file to the next
presidential elections in the fall of 2004. Choosing next
June as the time for forming the `Iraqi Karzai government,
five months before these elections, indicates that the Bush
administration is seriously looking for a political cover to
allow it to withdraw from the Iraqi arena and still allow
the President to win the next elections. This is what the
Bush administration wants . but its calculations are not
guaranteed, and it all depends on the Iraqi resistance and
what Saddam Hussein might do."
-- "The bloody lesson in Nasiriyeh"
Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page of
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (11/16):
"Those Italian soldiers did not deserve to die strangers on
Iraqi soil. There was no need to spill Italian blood in an
Arab country when millions of Italians have taken to the
streets in support of Arab causes. The problem is, however,
is that the businessman who is ruling Italy has turned the
Italian army from a professional army defending Italy to a
mercenary army in the service of the United States and its
expansionist objectives. The one who must pay the price for
the Italian presence in Iraq is the Italian Prime Minister
himself, and he must pay that price politically and not
through violence.. The United States and Britain alone must
drown in the Iraqi quagmire. Washington and London are the
ones who defied international resolutions and the Security
Council, and they are the ones who sent their armies into
Iraq, not just to occupy it, but also to run an experiment
for occupation projects and the ousting of regimes in the
region, particularly in Iran and Syria. Thus, the failure
of the American model in Iraq means the cancellation of such
future projects being contemplated by the Zionist right-wing
party ruling in the White House.. Eighteen Italian soldiers
paid the price of America's greed and the collaboration of
the Italian Prime Minister, who sent them to their death in
service to the American occupation. Yet, maybe the death of
these soldiers was a sacrifice for other soldiers, whose
countries would now hesitate to send them to Iraq. Maybe it
is a consolation for those who reject the American
occupation and for those who reject violence against targets
other than American or British, in that such operations
might encompass a political vision rather than just being
haphazard killing strikes. They might be the bloody lesson
that must read by anyone who is willing to provide
protection and coverage for the American occupation."
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: AMMAN, MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ
Summary
-- Lead story in all papers today, November 16, focuses on
reports about the two blasts against two synagogues in
Istanbul, including the international and regional reaction
and condemnation of the attacks. Another lead story focuses
on Iraq-related developments, including the downing of two
Blackhawk U.S. helicopters in Mosul, Iraq, and the Iraqi
Governing Council's announcement of a timetable for handing
over power to the Iraqis, inclusive of a Iraqi elections
before the end of 2005. On the domestic front, all papers
focus on newly-appointed Prime Minister Faisal Fayez' visit
to the Jordanian dailies, where he emphasized the need for a
"free media" that "is capable of serving the state, its
leadership and its institutions", and not just a "government
media".
Editorial Commentary
-- "The Iraqi resistance is making events"
Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(11/16): "Continuing to pretend not to know the source of
the daily attacks against the occupying forces in Iraq has
become funny. Besides, no one can ignore the fact that
Saddam Hussein and Al-Baa'th regime are the ones leading the
resistance in Iraq, that this resistance has brought
dramatic and conclusive changes to events in Iraq, and that
the story about America's enthusiasm to hand over power to
the Iraqis is nothing but the fruit of this resistance. It
is early to say that the United States will withdraw from
Iraq, but it is not far from the truth to say that the Bush
administration has actually linked the Iraq file to the next
presidential elections in the fall of 2004. Choosing next
June as the time for forming the `Iraqi Karzai government,
five months before these elections, indicates that the Bush
administration is seriously looking for a political cover to
allow it to withdraw from the Iraqi arena and still allow
the President to win the next elections. This is what the
Bush administration wants . but its calculations are not
guaranteed, and it all depends on the Iraqi resistance and
what Saddam Hussein might do."
-- "The bloody lesson in Nasiriyeh"
Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page of
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (11/16):
"Those Italian soldiers did not deserve to die strangers on
Iraqi soil. There was no need to spill Italian blood in an
Arab country when millions of Italians have taken to the
streets in support of Arab causes. The problem is, however,
is that the businessman who is ruling Italy has turned the
Italian army from a professional army defending Italy to a
mercenary army in the service of the United States and its
expansionist objectives. The one who must pay the price for
the Italian presence in Iraq is the Italian Prime Minister
himself, and he must pay that price politically and not
through violence.. The United States and Britain alone must
drown in the Iraqi quagmire. Washington and London are the
ones who defied international resolutions and the Security
Council, and they are the ones who sent their armies into
Iraq, not just to occupy it, but also to run an experiment
for occupation projects and the ousting of regimes in the
region, particularly in Iran and Syria. Thus, the failure
of the American model in Iraq means the cancellation of such
future projects being contemplated by the Zionist right-wing
party ruling in the White House.. Eighteen Italian soldiers
paid the price of America's greed and the collaboration of
the Italian Prime Minister, who sent them to their death in
service to the American occupation. Yet, maybe the death of
these soldiers was a sacrifice for other soldiers, whose
countries would now hesitate to send them to Iraq. Maybe it
is a consolation for those who reject the American
occupation and for those who reject violence against targets
other than American or British, in that such operations
might encompass a political vision rather than just being
haphazard killing strikes. They might be the bloody lesson
that must read by anyone who is willing to provide
protection and coverage for the American occupation."