SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: CRISIS IN LEBANON

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 003132 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 continued to tie the ongoing conflict in Lebanon to broader ideological and political struggles in the region. One Emirati columnist in "Al-Ittihad" dwelled upon the contrasting interests both Iran and the United States have in the ongoing conflict, while another in "Al-Bayan" stressed the incompatibility of Pan-Arab and Zionist ideology. The lead editorial of the prominent English-language "Gulf News" condemned U.S. policy in the Lebanon conflict, indicating their belief that it was part of a broader U.S. strategy for regional dominance. End Summary. ¶2. On 08/02, Emirati columnist Mohammed Al-Hammadi wrote the following in his weekly editorial in the Abu Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al Ittihad" (circulation 65,000): "This war has rendered the U.S.-Israeli relationship so translucent so as to make it stupid to say America is biased towards Israel. In truth, America is biased towards the oil reservoir that is the region, and Israel is merely the instrument by which it pursues its objectives... At present, the region is undergoing a historic change wherein it is the subject of a struggle between two major forces; and the only ones who suffer are the Lebanese... The absence of Egyptian leadership and Arab activism in this conflict has given Iran the space it needs to take up the vanguard of defending Islam and its oppressed subscribers from U.S. and Israeli aggression... U.S.-Iranian conflict is not surprising in Lebanon or elsewhere, as each party has its own public and private ambitions for the region. Iran wants to control the Middle Eastern oil reservoir before the U.S. consumes it all. And we should not be surprised that Iran is willing to engage the world's sole superpower, as it has something which the U.S. does not: knowledge of the region and its history, two thing Americans remain completely ignorant of. As U.S.-Iranian conflict runs hot and cold these days, we should not be surprised if it is eventually manifested in a full-fledged conflict. The only question that remains is who will pay for the next conflict?" ¶3. On 08/02 under the headline "Zionism and Arab Nationalism are incompatible", female Emirati columnist Dr. Latifa Al-Najjar wrote the following in her weekly editorial in the Dubai-based Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan" (85,000): "Talking of peace between Zionism and Arab Nationalism these days is wishful thinking. The peace called for by Zionists and westerners is nothing but surrender. Everyone should by now recognize that human history is based on the conflict of interests, and that peoples' rights are forgotten if they are not defended by such force. It is no secret that Zionist settlements are reflections of old colonialism, revamped as new colonialism and advocated strongly by the American right-wing and neo-conservatives, who agree so overwhelmingly with the Zionists. After all this conflict, can peace be achieved between the Zionists and Arabs? Can Zionism's colonial ideology coexist with the Arabs who wish to live safely in their own countries? Current events demonstrate that there is no possibility for such cooperation or coexistence, either theoretically or in reality." ¶4. On 08/02 under the headline "Bush's stance is very clear," the prominent Dubai-based English-language daily "Gulf News" (circulation 95,000) published the following in its anonymous lead editorial: "... The blank cheque granted by US President George W. Bush to Israel for continued aggression will lead to a new America-created quagmire. This is but an American war being waged by Israeli war planners a stars and stripes agenda that is colored by the Star of David... [W]as Lebanon not at peace until Israel declared war? The ground reality of the crisis in Lebanon is clear in black and white. But with the bonding of an American-Israeli agenda, the whole situation has been redefined. The region does not need another nation to exist on the threshold of a civil war." QUINN