MEDIA REACTION ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000634 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 INAUGURATION Editorial Commentary -- "The inaugural speech of the second term" Daily columnist Urayb Rintawi writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (01/22): "We would have liked to believe what Bush said in his inaugural speech, because freedom and democracy are values for which the people of this region have yearned since the end of Ottoman rule. But what we see in Iraq and Palestine, and what we hear about American collusion in unjust practices by most Arab and Muslim regimes under the pretext of fighting terrorism, makes us convinced that these words are mere ideological smokescreens used by the second Bush administration to cover the ugly practices of Washington and its allies against all Arabs." -- "The freedom of Bush Jr. and the freedom of the world" Daily columnist Nahed Hattar writes on the op-ed page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al- Yawm (01/23): "Bush Jr. announced that he would devote the years of his second term to spreading `freedom' in the world. Given the heinous crimes that Americans have committed against the freedom of the people of Iraq and Palestine and other states that are afflicted by American aggression, this sounds like a bad joke. But Bush Jr. means what he says. He is determined to spread the freedom of the American Empire to enslave nations. Bush Jr. dreams of freedom for American troops to invade `rebellious' countries. He dreams of freedom for American troops to commit mass murder, mass arrests, torture and destruction.. He dreams of freedom for American capitalism to destroy all restrictions and borders that protect national markets. He dreams of freedom for American barbaric `culture' to nullify other cultures and to Americanize the world.. He dreams of freedom for America's immoral support for Zionism and its crimes against the Palestinian people.. Yes, Bush Jr. dreams of the free American capitalism over a planet of slaves. That is why the freedom of the world means, first and foremost, standing up to America's freedom and defeating it by resistance, by boycotts, by spreading the word. Reining in the White House has now become a global necessity." -- "Bush, the world president" Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (01/23): "What is new in Bush's speech is that it assumes that he is president of the whole world, not only of the United States. He has a divine program to change the world and wants to spread democracy and freedom in the entire world. In this sense, his speech amounted to the declaration of the American Empire that would lord it over the six continents and five oceans. But President Bush has no mandate to change the world. His attempt to change one state, Iraq, has so far been an utter failure. If he wants to treat the world as he treats Iraq, most likely the world would refuse, since it has not asked Bush to save it from itself. As for the outlaw states to which Bush refers, one fears that the United States under Bush has become one of them. Bush would do well to remember that half of the Americans wanted to change him, and that most of the people of the world reject his arrogant and individualistic policies.. But, finally, Bush acknowledged the widening gap between the United States and its allies, and promised to bridge it through dialogue and cooperation. He also promised to work for peace in the Middle East. It remains for his deeds to match his words." -- "The New president of the United States" Columnist Aida Najjar writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (01/24): "I listened carefully to President Bush's inaugural speech. I found nothing new. In fact, I found that the Arabs had been placed in his `little pocket' and moreover, that the entire world has been set under the rule of the American empire! I had thought that the `new' president would learn from the `old' president, would acknowledge the wrong and go back to the path of righteousness. This did not happen. His threats towards us, Arabs, were very clear, as they were also towards the `evil' states, and he still insists on interpreting the concept of freedom his own way.. The world is going to be more dangerous under the old-new Bush administration at a time when the poor are looking for food, health and education and when people under occupation, as in Palestine and Iraq, are looking for security and peace to achieve a life where there is real freedom and democracy, and not according to American concepts." -- "The holy missions of Bush and Zarqawi" Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (01/25): "If I were to address one question to President Bush, I would ask him: `do you truly believe all what you say about your role in spreading freedom and democracy in the world?' I believe that his answer to this question would show the truth about the mindset of the U.S. President and his way of thinking. Most people around George Bush affirm that he believes himself to have been chosen by God for a holy mission, to spread democracy and fight terror as defined by American Zionist criteria. He therefore believes that all his actions are virtuous, and that he cannot be in error even when he causes the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. May God help the people of this region and the world against the holy missions of George Bush and Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, which will only bring destruction, and may God grant us the courage to confront both projects in every field." HALE