MEDIA REACTION: AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE ARABS, LOSS

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000560 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS),NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY),NEA/P (FFINVER),INR/R/MR LONDON FOR GOLDRICH PARIS FOR ZEYA USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE ARABS, LOSS OF U.S. CREDIBILITY -------------- The Wounds Of War -------------- ¶1. On April 2, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" carried an editorial entitled "The Third Sorrow": "We have healed from our first wound which was Iraq, we are still smarting from the situation in Darfur, but now it seems a third wound is being inflicted on us Arabs as a collective. This most recent wound is the UN Security Council resolution to convict any person found to be a war criminal in the International Court of Justice, including those who participated in the war in Darfur. However the resolution does not take into account long-standing issues and cultural rifts in Sudan. There is much concern that this resolution will do more harm than good. The Security Council failed to realize that this resolution creates an opportunity for individuals to seek personal retribution simply by claiming that a person is a war criminal. This resolution has already begun to divide Sudan, further igniting the flames of hatred that exist there, by offering an opportunity for revenge." -------------- Resolving Our Own Problems -------------- ¶2. The privately-owned Arabic daily "al-Watan" published an editorial on April 4 entitled "Events in our Region": "Sudan has recently become the source of great discussion in the international arena, replacing Syria who had been at the top of the list for approximately two months. Prior to Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Libya topped the list. The reason for Sudan's top position on the list is that people in our region are more aware of what is happening around them, and are calling on the international community to act. We know that Washington is a superpower that wants to force its plans on the region. We also know that Washington wants to divide the Arab world politically. To avoid Washington's intervention, we should address the issues that effect our region proactively." -------------- No WMD's Lead to Lost Credibility -------------- ¶3. On April 4, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" carried an editorial entitled "When You Lose Credibility": "A few days ago the Americans confessed to having put forth misleading CIA reports that stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The Americans, including President George Bush, insisted that they were going to find the weapons sooner or later and tried earnestly to assure the rest of the world the weapons existed. However, this confession proves again the lack of credibility of the U.S. in regard to the war in Iraq. The misleading information that is being referred to is the information that former Secretary of State Colin Powell provided in his famous appearance at the UN Security Council days before the war started. Millions of people watched this broadcast along with images of the locations where the U.S. claimed that weapons of mass destruction were located. It is not surprising that everything the U.S. said was wrong." BALTIMORE