Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN5247
2005-06-30 11:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S SPEECH ON

Tags:  KMDR JO 
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301141Z Jun 05
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005247

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

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S SPEECH ON
IRAQ


Summary

-- President Bush's June 28 speech in Fort Bragg on
the anniversary of the formal return of sovereignty to
Iraqis received prominent coverage in all papers
published today, June 30. All papers carry wire
service reports with extensive excerpts from his
speech, mainly focusing on the President's refusal to
commit to a "timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops"
from Iraq. A number of editorial commentaries reflect
on the President's remarks.

Editorial Commentary

-- "Liberating Iraq"

Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (06/30): "America
launched war on Iraq on the pretext of liberating it
from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. The war was
successful in eliminating Saddam, but Iraq needs now
to be liberated from the chaos that has become
prevalent and from the foreign presence on its soil.
America cannot deny that fact, and must prepare to
leave Iraq by investing more seriously in the
development of the Iraqi force that would be qualified
to defend the rights of Iraqis to security and
stability. America is not going to beat terrorism,
violence and the resistance in a direct military
confrontation. Restoring security in Iraq will not be
accomplished except at the hands of Iraqi forces that
defeat the terrorists and an Iraqi political regime
that reacts positively towards the legitimate
resistance, exposes terrorist organizations and
establishes justice and equality among the various
sects of the Iraqi people. America thought that it
had a grip on the entire truth when it launched the
war on Iraq. It acted with arrogance and snobbery
that has since led Iraq to the current situation of
collapse and deterioration. American policies
continue to be formed without sufficient care or
concern for the Iraq reality. Funds allocated for the
reconstruction of Iraq have doubled the wealth of
American companies, but they have not improved the
living conditions of the Iraqis, and the military
forces continue to act out of sync with political
policies, arresting moderate people, provoking good
families and violating the sovereignty of Iraqi
institutions. Unless the United States acknowledges
its failures in Iraq and adopts effective steps
towards correcting its policies, President Bush is

going to find himself repeating his rejection of a
timetable for withdrawing his troops in his farewell
speech from the White House. Getting out of the Iraqi
dilemma requires in-depth planning that America seems
to lack the will to do."

-- "Bush's speech and the occupation's crisis"

Daily columnist Samih Ma'aytah writes on the back-page
of independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (06/30): "U.S.
President George Bush was not particularly intelligent
in saying there will not be an announcement of a
timetable for withdrawing his troops occupying Iraq on
the grounds that such could be considered a victory
for the resistance. Yet, this American declaration
confirms what Bush wanted to deny: even the very
thought of withdrawing is in the cards but its
rejection is due to fear that it would be seen as a
victory for the fighters.. America's problem in Iraq
is not just in the military losses or even in the
failure of its forces to maintain security; it is in
reconstructing Iraq to what it used to be before the
war. America is good at disassembling but is totally
helpless in reassembling. What it has done so far is
that it entrenched sectarianism in the political and
public life.. The Iraqis are worse off than when they
were living under the sanctions. America knows that
Iraq's problem is not going to be resolved by holding
elections under the occupation, but rather by building
a new Iraq where its citizens benefit from its riches,
have control over their sovereignty and feel safe.
This is where the occupation failed. If President
Bush refuses to announce a withdrawal timetable now,
then he will have to someday."

-- "Bush's speech ."

Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back-page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(06/30): "At first glance, someone reading Bush's
recent speech about Iraq would have the impression
that America is not going to withdraw from Iraq
despite the fact that it has turned into a quagmire
for the American troops. Going back to Rumsfeld's
remarks a few days ago that the rebellion may last 12
years, the question becomes: will the American war in
Iraq last all these years? Bush considers setting a
timetable for his troops' withdrawal a grave mistake,
a bad message to the Iraqi people, the American
soldiers and what he calls the terrorists. The
question is: is there anything worse for the Iraqi
people and the American soldiers than the current
situation, and is there anything better for the
terrorists and the resistance than an Iraqi that has
been turned by Bush's war into a perfect arena for
booby-trapped cars, assassinations, kidnappings and
decapitations? Bush purposefully ignored the
following facts: the fact that there is a resistance
against his troops, which has grown and expanded; the
fact that the tragic situation under which the Iraqis
live has made the slogans of freedom and democracy a
moral and political farce; and the fact that the
slogan of rebuilding Iraq has become nothing more than
a bitter joke to cover up the theft of 7 billion
dollars from the Iraqi people's money, as George
Galloway had said.. The Iraqi people and America's
soldiers and their families find nothing worse than
Bush's messages, bringing them news of an extended war
without further purpose or aim than what the world
sees today."

-- "Bush's ever shifting mission in Iraq"

Columnist Nawwaf Abul Haija writes on the op-ed page
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(06/30): "U.S. President George Bush's speech did not
simply defy the feelings of the American people, but
also the feelings of the Iraqi people. The American
President declared that he is not going to respond to
the demands for scheduling the withdrawal of
occupation troops on the pretext that the mission is
not yet accomplished, a mission that appears ever
shifting. In the beginning, it was the elimination of
the Iraqi danger that threatened the world with
weapons of mass destruction. Then it became the
liberation of Iraq, followed by the establishment of a
model for democracy in Iraq, then combating terrorism.
The freedom that Bush promised to the Iraqi people
has, after two years of occupation, turned into
forcing the people of Baghdad to search for water,
electricity, fuel and means to stay alive, being the
natural results of the loss of security and the
destruction of infrastructure.. Why would setting a
withdrawal timetable be grave mistake? Because
setting the timetable means finding light at the end
of the tunnel for the Iraqis.. Bush is defying the
fact and he is unwilling to take a decision that would
spare the lives of thousands of American soldiers."
HALE