MEDIA REACTION: KAREN HUGHES'S MIDDLE EAST VISIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004134

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
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USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: KAREN HUGHES'S MIDDLE EAST VISIT



1. SUMMARY: AN EDITORIAL IN THE POPULAR UAE DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ"
9/27 NOTED THAT UNLESS THE U.S. CHANGES ITS POLICY TOWARDS THE
ARABS AND BECOMES A FAIR AND JUST PLAYER IN THE MIDDLE EAST
CONFLICT, NEITHER KAREN HUGHES NOR ANY OTHER AMERICAN ENVOY WILL
SUCCEED IN IMPROVING THE U.S. IMAGE IN THE ARAB WORLD. END
SUMMARY.


2. UNDER THE HEADLINE "IMPROVING AMERICA'S IMAGE WOULD BE A
MIRACLE", SHARJAH-BASED PAN-ARAB DAILY "AL KHALEEJ," (CIRCULATION
85,000) EDITORIALIZED:

"WHAT WOULD KAREN HUGHES, PRESIDENT BUSH'S ENVOY TO REGIONAL
CAPITALS, DO TO SUCCEED IN HER MISSION THAT AIMS TO IMPROVE THE
IMAGE OF HER ADMINISTRATION AFTER ALL IT DID AGAINST THE PEOPLE
OF THE REGION? KAREN HUGHES NEEDS A MIRACLE FOLLOWING THE
RELEASE OF MANY POLLS IN THE ARAB WORLD THAT SHOWED THAT ARABS DO
NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, THAT HAS NO
CREDIBILITY AND A POLICY THAT HAS NO WISDOM. THE MISSION OF
HUGHES IS DOOMED TO FAILURE AS LONG AS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
WANTS TO CONTINUE RIDICULING THE ARABS AND BLACKMAILING THEM
UNTIL THE ENTIRE REGION FALLS PREY TO THE POLICY OF HEGEMONY THAT
VIEWS THE WORLD FROM A ZIONIST PERSPECTIVE. IN ORDER FOR HUGHES
TO SUCCEED, SHE MUST BEGIN IN WASHINGTON, AND NOT CAIRO OR RIYADH
OR ANY OTHER ARAB OR MUSLIM CAPITAL. CAN THE U.S. ADHERE TO WHAT
THE WORLD COMMUNITY, INTERNATIONAL LEGITIMACY AND HUMAN RIGHT SAY
AND ENDEAVOR TO APPLY THEM OBJECTIVELY? CAN THE U.S. ABANDON ITS
DOUBLE STANDARD POLICY, THE IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS AND
OCCUPATION OF OTHER NATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SATISFACTION
OF ITS HAWKS? CAN THE U.S. STOP ITS SUPPORT OF ZIONIST TERRORISM
AND ALLOW INTERNATIONAL LAW TO PREVAIL TO BRING ISRAELI GENERALS
TO COURT FOR THE CRIMES THEY COMMITTED IN PALESTINE AND OTHER
ARAB NATIONS? WILL THE U.S. BE FAIR AND JUST IN ITS OUTLOOK FOR
ALL PEOPLE AND NATIONS TO LET THEM LIVE IN PEACE AND DIGNITY
WITHOUT ANY INTERVENTION, AS DO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE? CAN THE
U.S. BE DEMOCRATIC AND LET OTHERS DECIDE THEIR OWN DESTINY
WITHOUT ANY READY RECIPES THAT EVENTUALLY DO NOT SUIT THEM? "

"THE AGONY TODAY'S WORLD IS ENDURING AS A RESULT OF AMERICAN
POLICY, ESPECIALLY UNDER THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION, IS DIFFICULT
TO COUNT AND THE ARAB WORLD IS, AFTER ALL, PART OF THIS WORLD,
YET IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE OBJECT THAT WAS EXPOSED TO U.S.
PRESSURE AND BLACKMAIL, SIMPLY BECAUSE ITS BODY HAS A CANCEROUS
TUMOR CALLED THE ZIONIST ENTITY. THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION
WANTS THIS CANCER TO GET STRONGER IN ORDER TO WEAKEN THE ARAB
BODY TO DEATH. THIS IS WHAT MAKES KAREN HUGHES'S MISSION, OR THE
MISSION OF ANY OTHER AMERICAN ENVOY WHO COMES TO MARKET A POLICY
THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPROVE, VOID EVEN IF THEY USE ALL THE MAKE-
UP IN THE WORLD."


3. Under the headline "US envoy Karen Hughes knows how to stay
on message and her message to Muslims is: We care.", Dubai-based,
English daily Gulf News, 9/28 (circulation 95,000):

"BUT IT'S NOT CLEAR HOW MANY ARE LISTENING. WHEN THE SAGGING
AMERICAN IMAGE ABROAD NEEDED A FACELIFT, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
TURNED TO HUGHES, A CLOSE ADVISER AND COMMUNICATIONS GURU WHO
NURTURED HIS IMAGE THROUGH TWO POLL CAMPAIGNS. HER MODUS
OPERANDI THEN, AND NOW ON A TRIP TO EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA AND
TURKEY, IS REMARKABLY SIMILAR: SET BASIC TALKING POINTS, STICK TO
THEM, THEN KEEP ROLLING THE TAPE.
"Hughes has stayed relentlessly on point even in the face of
pointed questions. Ask her, as did an American University
student in Cairo why the United States is so intent on
"interfering" in the affairs of other countries, she bats it away
with: "Are you referring to the Millennium Challenge Accounts?"
When the young woman look mystified, Hughes explained it was a US
programme tying American development aid to political and
economic reforms in recipient countries. Ask about the invasion
of Iraq and the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and she
responds that the world is better off without Saddam Hussain and
now that the United States is there other countries should join
in ensuring Iraq is stable and secure. Ask about the Arab-
Israeli conflict and the answer is: "We want the Palestinians to
have jobs and economic opportunity and education and a bright
future."

4. Under editorial headline "Hughes thwarted at the outset:
Without policy change the US will always be viewed by the Arabs
with suspicion..", Dubai-based, English daily Gulf News, 9/28
(circulation 95,000):
"It has long been acknowledged that US President George W. Bush
is only comfortable among those he has known for many years.
"Bush has decided that Hughes is eminently placed to be able to
"sell" America to the Middle East. Her qualifications being a
past ability to keep Bush informed of what the person in the
street in middle America is thinking. What precisely is her
expertise at being able to parley and forcefully but
diplomatically put over American policy to skeptical Middle
Eastern leaders is not known. Perhaps Bush was getting his
middles mixed.
Hughes is visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey but seems
unsure as to who should be doing the listening. Is it her job to
listen to what the Middle East is saying of the US, she may
wonder? Or for these "soft target" Middle Eastern countries to
listen to what the US wants to tell them.
A US official is already on record as saying it is not their
intention to change US policy on Middle East issues. Which poses
the question: So why is Hughes on her visit?
Anyone who has even a limited understanding of events in the
Middle East can spell out loud and clear exactly what aggrieves
people in the Middle East with regard to the US. It is their
policy. Therefore, if the avowed intent prior to Hughes visit is
for "no change, steady as we go" then it is best for Hughes to
return home."
SISON