MEDIA REACTION: INDIAN-US COALITION; CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002744 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; RRU-NEA IIP/G/NEA-SA WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC SECDEF FOR OASD/PA USCINCCENT FOR POLAD LONDON FOR MCKUNE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: INDIAN-US COALITION; CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ; KUWAITI ELECTIONS; IRAN AND THE US; US CHARITY ¶1. Summary: A columnist in "Al-Khaleej" comments on the potential impact of an Indo-American alliance on Pakistan and China. Another asserts that Iran has been the sole benefactor of the US's arrogant policies in the region. Also in "Al-Khaleej" an unsigned editorial criticizes US Ambassador John Bolton for defending Israel in place of his own country, and ignoring Israeli crimes against Palestinians. Another unsigned editorial in "Akhbar Al-Arab" questions the reality of security in Iraq if US authorities continue to commit heinous crimes. Also a columnist in "Al-Bayan" lauds the Kuwaiti elections and insists that women were the election's biggest winners, despite not gaining any seats. A final editorial in "Khaleej Times" praises the recent Supreme Court decision as a victory for American values. Finally a letter to the editor in "Khaleej Times" expresses disappointment with charitable giving in the Muslim world in comparison to the West. End Summary ¶2. Under the headline "New Indo-American ties", columnist Dr. Ghassan Al-Azzi wrote the following in an 07/01 op-ed in the Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000): "It seems that an Indo-American coalition will be an important feature in international relations over the coming century. The US's sugarcoated rhetoric towards Pakistan is not sufficient to ameliorate the consequences of this alliance. Pakistan feels betrayed by an ally, one which it alone had supported in wars on the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The same goes for China, which feels the danger of rising Indian trade competition. The Chinese increasingly perceive that the US is supporting India out of their own fears of China's rise to power, in an effort to surround and ultimately place limits on its potential expansion." ¶3. Under the headline "Washington: Thank you, Tehran: Congratulations", columnist Saad Mehio wrote the following in an 07/02 op-ed in the Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000): "'We would like to thank President Bush for helping us get rid of Saddam, and for paving our way into Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, where our influence has grown following the withdrawal of the Syrians. The Americans have raised oil prices, and helped us to build a collective identity in the region. In sharing the same enemy, Iran is now closer to Egypt and the other Arab countries. Arabs and Muslims were not united until America acted as it did, and in doing so they have done us a great service!' Prominent Iranian diplomat Ali Ajbar Al-Ridaei was not joking when he made these remarks to a British periodical two days ago (The Guardian, June 30). And he is not wrong. Wherever we go, we find that US policies since September 11 have cultivated nothing but immoral chaos, generating more hatred and revolt against the United States... How is it that every American military or security 'victory' turns into a political and ideological accomplishment for Iran? What mistakes have the Bush administration made? Simple: the endless search for naked power. Or as the Americans themselves say 'hubris,' meaning arrogance or vanity. This explains why politics is absent in the US plan for the Middle East, because as security becomes the primary issue no space is left for political solutions. And as policies of destruction are increasingly employed, subsequent policies of reconstruction become almost impossible. This is what has happened in Afghanistan where the Taliban's regime was destroyed without a plan to rebuild the country. And it has happened again in Iraq, after much of the country's infrastructure and industrial capacity were destroyed along with its military and government, without an adequate back-up plan for reconstruction. This same pattern is now apparent in Palestine, where the Palestinian Authority is being targeted and destroyed even as Palestinian lands are being submerged in complete chaos." ¶4. Under the headline "Protecting aggression" the Sharjah-based Pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000) published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: "The US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton was not representing his country properly during the UN's recent discussion on Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians. He was actually representing Israel on behalf of Olmert's government, as he warped the truth in his defense of Israeli actions... Bolton, a Christian Zionist who hates Arabs and Muslims, deliberately obscured the war crimes and terrorist acts that have been committed by Israel against the Palestinian people... These Security Council discussions have again served to expose the superpower's bias towards Israel. It also demonstrates the foolishness of those who continue to throw their lot in with the United States as a neutral or principled arbiter, as the United States is not a reliable party when it comes to such issues of justice... Certainly all Arabs heard what Bolton and the White House have said in their defense of Israel, maintaining that Israel has the right to practice its right to defend itself through its war of annihilation against the Palestinians. Won't Arabs understand what this means before it is too late?" ¶5. Under the headline "Iraqis expect a civil war", the Abu Dhabi-based pan-Arab daily "Akhbar Al-Arab" (circulation 20,000) published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: "The recently revealed rape of an Iraqi girl by four American soldiers, who subsequently burned her body and murdered her family members, is merely an example of the horrendous acts which Iraqis must live with on a daily basis... Elsewhere, an Iraqi MP was kidnapped with her seven guards in the middle of the day. So where is the security in all of this if those who are supposed to be providing security are the ones committing the crimes? American terrorism is the same as sectarian terrorism. Thus we can say Iraq is pregnant with a civil war and is about to deliver. " ¶6. Under the headline "Elections and a new leaf in Kuwait", the Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" (circulation 90,000) published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: "... Now that the results of the elections are clear, the process has proven itself fair and successful. But Kuwaiti women are the biggest winners, despite not gaining any seats in the parliament. Such a result is no surprise, as this was the first time women were allowed to participate as they did. But the important thing is that now Kuwaiti women are players in the field." ¶7. Under the headline "Victory for justice and US ideals", the Dubai-based English daily "Khaleej Times" (circulation 85,000) published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: "The Cuba prison not only mocks the beliefs and ideals of the architects of democratic America such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but it also undermines its moral standing to promote these lofty ideas around the world... It's for the sake of these values, if nothing else, that the Bush administration must let the Bay detainees go home. God knows they have suffered enough for the sins they are almost certain not to have committed..." ¶8. Under the headline "Where are you brothers?", the Dubai-based English daily "Khaleej Times" (circulation 85,000) published the following 07/02 letter to the editor by "Wasim": "While talk of brotherhood emanates freely from terrorist leaders, not one of them speaks for Islamic principles which encompass the three most important ideals that Allah is and Allah characterizes, namely Love, Life and Light... Mercy, zakat, giving, charity. I could feel the power of these words again when I visited Indonesia in the walk of the tsunami. There was a sense of resentment among the common folk. Saudi Arabia provided for rebuilding mosques and schools, but not one penny in personal contribution came from any wealthy man. As US Marines came calling with helicopters, people wondered where the billionaires of [the] Muslim world had vanished. None cared to send doctors or rescue dogs, helicopters or hospital ships, food or money. Where are you brothers? Why are you so tightfisted with money that you would otherwise blow on hotels, harems and high-rises?" SISON