MEDIA REACTION: ANNIVERSARY OF SEPT 11

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 003620

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ANNIVERSARY OF SEPT 11


1. Summary: A UAE female columnist in "Al-Ittihad" highlights that
America, instead of eradicating the reasons for hate and terror,
have created new reasons for hate, anger and terror in the region.
A UAE columnist in "Al-Ittihad" commented on the moment of silence
which Bush and the world took this year for 9/11 victims saying that
the world has been silent for five years, not talking about the acts
of George Bush and his administration which insists on changing and
punishing the world. End Summary.



2. Under the headline "September events.. A moment of silence or
five years of silence?", a UAE columnist, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, wrote
in his weekly column in the Abu Dhabi-based semi-official
Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad" on 09/11 (circulation 65,000):

"People in world capitals observed a moment of silence to mark the
painful memories of the 9/11 attacks on the WTC in NY. This was
evident, but the truth is that it was not just a moment of silence.
The world has been silent for five years. The world is not talking
about the acts of George Bush and his administration which insisted
on changing the world and punishing it -- not just the Muslim world,
but the whole world. Five years after that crime, it is clear that
terror does not threaten the U.S. only. A few days ago, Jordan
arrested an armed man who killed and injured a number of tourists.
In Denmark, a terrorist plot was thwarted. Plots to bomb airplanes
in the U.K. were thwarted. Germany is investigating a plot to bomb
trains. Large groups of terrorists were arrested in Morocco... The
U.S. is not the only victim of terror. The last five years have
confirmed this and that all states are targets of terror... The
responsibility to confront it is not on the U.S. only, but on the
whole world, even though the U.S. is the main reason to for
terrorists... Five years later, President Bush is finally convinced
that the world is not safer after his war on terror and the
occupation of Iraq. The Americans and their allies have failed to
destroy Al-Qaeda and arrest Bin Laden. Thus, Bin Laden's
organization has become stronger because it survived the past five
years... What would happen if the U.S. had a more just position on
Palestine? What if it accepted the Arabs as partners in securing
peace, not as threats? What if it considered Gulf oil as something
they could get without creating instabilities, waging wars, and
instigating terrorists? ...So many things could have changed in
favor of the U.S., the Arabs, Muslims, and the whole world, and not
in the interest of terrorists."


3. Under the headline "11 September.. A Moment of Silence", a UAE
female columnist, Aisha Al-Merri, wrote in her weekly column in the
Abu Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad" on
09/11 (circulation 65,000):

"Yes the world did pause for a moment, but not only to mourn for the
U.S. victims, but to also mourn the humanitarian principles which
were violated and are still being violated in the name of combating
terror. Many democracies legitimized violating human rights...
Terrorism has succeeded in changing the features of Western
countries, and introduced vocabularies that were not known by people
before like Islamophobia. Every Arab Muslim in the Middle East is
automatically convicted if he lacks an alibi. The question that
needs to be answered: "Is the world a safer place than it was on
9/11 in 2001? After five years, we can only say that Washington has
failed militarily, intellectually and security-wise, because the
U.S. administration is still chasing terror's ghost in vain... Iraq
embodies the greatest U.S. losses, despite the fact that Saddam was
captured, because of the sectarian bloodshed... Let's have a moment
of silence to mourn a historical moment which changed the world, but
did not change the infrastructure on which the U.S. administration
built its policies in the region, because instead of eradicating the
reasons of hate and terror, the U.S. policies worked towards
generating new reasons for hate, anger and terror in the region that
could lead to another 9/11."




SISON