SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: CRISIS IN LEBANON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003089

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
PITRANSGRESS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: CRISIS IN LEBANON


1. Summary: Editorials remained critical of the Secretary's
approach to the Lebanon conflict and most recent visit to the
region. One editorial in "Akhbar Al-Arab" provided the outlines of
a possible resolution to the conflict. Meanwhile two writers in
"Al-Bayan" questioned her motives, with one denying that she had any
ability to defend the Lebanese people while another hypothesized
that she did not come to reach peace, but only to encourage the
Israelis to expedite their observations. Another writer in
"Al-Ittihad" attributed the failure of the Rome summit to the United
States government's refusal to meet with representatives of Hamas,
Hezbollah, Iran or Syria. End Summary.


2. Under the headline "The return of Condoleezza", the Abu
Dhabi-based Arabic-language daily "Akhbar Al-Arab" (circulation
20,000) published the following in a 07/30 unsigned editorial:

"... It is no secret that the proposed 'peacekeeping force' will
expand its mandate to include interference in Lebanon's internal
affairs, at the expense of the Lebanese constitution. Such
interference will have a decisive impact on the country's governance
and form of democracy, and will change the country's lists to match
the United States' black and white vision of who are and are not
terrorists. Washington knows that the presence of these
international forces will tempt those who wish to fight the U.S. to
come to Lebanon. To end the war properly, the peacekeepers should
remain under the control of the United Nations, and should enter
only after Israel withdraws from Shebaa Farms and exchanges
prisoners. If Secretary Rice's proposal is inline with this vision,
her job will be easy and reasonable, and this visit will prove less
burdensome on the Lebanese than the last."


3. Under the headline "The return of Condi", the Dubai-based
Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan" (circulation 85,000) published the
following in a 07/30 editorial:

"... In her visit to the Middle East last week, Rice mentioned that
her return would not come until the time was right for a final
solution to 'the crisis in Lebanon.' Her departure left Israel with
the ability to do whatever it wanted, while denying Lebanon its
right to return to normalcy. We don't know whether now is the right
time for peace as she said, or if she has returned out of concern
for Israel's safety, now that it has experienced the stiff
resistance which forced it out of three cities in southern Lebanon
(Maroun Al-Ras, Bint Jubeil and Eitron) and threatens to drag them
into a quagmire that will serve as a graveyard for its soldiers.
Even as the United States announces its desire to save Lebanon and
find a permanent solution, the painful reality in Lebanon reflects
the opposite and demonstrates that United States' true desire is for
Israel to quickly achieve all of its strategic goals in this
conflict..."


4. Female Emirati columnist Aisha Ibrahim Sultan wrote the following
in her daily untitled column dated 07/30 in the Dubai-based
Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan":

"... What is a more grave breach of the law: targeting peacekeeping
forces and intentionally killing four of their members, or abducting
two soldiers actively involved in legitimate combat? Why then has
the United States helped Israel legitimate its right to defend
itself in such a brutal manner (utilizing the abduction of its
soldiers as a pretext for war),preventing the United Nations from
issuing a statement of condemnation? As long as Israel is free and
its lawyer the American devil is ready with his veto to protect it
after every crime, then who can preserve Lebanon's security and
stability? How can the United Nations account for the killers of
Lebanon while it itself is being killed in front of the world's
eyes? In such conditions, Rice must find another solution to her
diplomatic geniality, if she can come up with any!"


5. Kuwaiti columnist Dr.Shamlan Yousef Al-Eissa wrote the following
in his weekly column in the Abu Dhabi-based semi-official
Arabic-language daily "Al Ittihad" on 07/30:

"... What is next now that the Rome conference has failed and Rice
is returning to the region? What caused its failure? The answer is
clear: the U.S. came with a special agenda for the region that it
wants the Arabs to implement, either voluntarily or by force. What
is their agenda? It is to completely reorder a problematic region.
President Bush has said Lebanon and Syria must disarm Hezbollah,
according to Resolution 1559. Bush also wants pressure on the
Palestinian Authority to suppress the Palestinian resistance,
especially Hamas and the Jihad movements, and wants to reopen the
issue of normalizing relations with Israel. It is very difficult
for Arabs, including those moderates among them, to accept these
demands, as they are orders which any Arab leader with even the
slightest amount of honor cannot accept, as they do not even address
any of the Arabs' legitimate demands, such as the establishment of a
Palestinian state in the Arab lands which were taken in 1967. The
United States did not take into account the changes their agenda
would cause in the region, and as a result have increased the
influence of Iran in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah is not a
mere terrorist organization as the Americans pretend, but is instead
a political party with wide popular support from the impoverished
Lebanese. They provide education and health services, and establish
small plants, workshops and similar businesses. The U.S. cannot
achieve peace in the region without negotiations with Hamas,
Hezbollah, Iran and Syria."

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