MEDIA REACTION ON MIDDLE EAST AND IRAQ

UNCLAS AMMAN 001477 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN USAID/ANE/MEA LONDON FOR TSOU SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR JO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON MIDDLE EAST AND IRAQ Summary -- Lead reports and commentaries over the past few days, February 27-March 1, focus on a variety of developments related to the Middle East and Iraq, as well as the issue of the UAE role in the management of US ports. Editorial Commentary on Middle East -- "'Transformational Diplomacy' and the deficiency of Arab stances" Freelancer Lamis Andoni writes on the op-ed page of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (02/27): "The call of the [U.S.] Secretary of State for Lebanon's independence in the same tour that aimed to isolate a Hamas-led elected Palestinian government, and in addition to the fact that she represents an occupying force in Iraq, is fit to be a comedy scene, except that it is a very serious scene. The U.S. policy's lack of moral standards and its dependence on military power is nothing new. The problem, however, lies in how official and non-official Arab institutions deal with Washington. The occupation has become acceptable and the official and non-official institutions are competing for the American financial support under the motto of democracy and reform without any care or concern for the repercussions of implementing policies and programs that fall within America's anti-Arab causes vision. On the eve of her tour in the region, Condoleezza Rice announced the start of what she called Transformational Diplomacy that aims to create changes in the Arab region through diplomacy. Rice did not clarify this new diplomacy, but it seems that America, stuck in the Iraqi quagmire and endless scandals, wants to focus on a combination of diplomatic pressures and financial support increases for the opposition in Iran and other unapproved of Arab countries to create internal changes that lead to the rise of pro-US policy governments.. It is known that American governmental institutions have increased their expenditure on civil society institutions and research centers in Lebanon in the past two years, just as they did in Venezuela and even Serbia after the downfall of Milosevic. But the American government did not allow the Serbian people to elect their representative freely and without intervening by strengthening certain parties in the elections. The lesson that the American government learned is that it is necessary to control both the opposition and the government, and even create the opposition and the government if need be, so that the democratic process does not put forth parliaments and governments that are out of its reach. The results of the Palestinian elections confirm this American approach. That is why Washington is trying now to isolate Hamas, not out of fear of its religious extremism, but in order to strike any Palestinian opposition to the Israeli conditions.. Going back to Lebanon, anti-Syrian forces there are playing the same game in the relationship with Hezbollah. American has an interest in seeing a comprehensive change in Lebanon that feeds the sectarian division and takes Lebanon out of the Arab mass conscience, inclusive of the stand vis--vis Israel. Some anti-Syrian Lebanese parties definitely do not agree with America's objectives, but they nevertheless believe that the intersection of interests with America will resolve the problem with Syria. They are not looking at the repercussions of this short-term policy for Lebanon and the entire region. The same situation applies to Arab civil society institutions. Each one believes, or kids himself into believing, this idea of intersecting interests with America, but at the end of the day, they all fall within the framework of the American strategy, knowingly or not." Editorial Commentary on Iraq -- "No solution except through secularism" Former Minister of Information and regular columnist Saleh Qallab writes on the back-page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (02/27): "There is no solution to the Iraqi crisis that has escalated a great deal after the recent Samarra crime except to go back to establishing the regime on the secular bases that essentially does not deal with people on the basis of their sect, religion or race, but on the basis of their political and economic commitments and stances. Otherwise, the civil war that is already knocking at the doors will inevitably break out.. What is going on in Iraq today is neither strange nor eventful in view of the sectarian, religious and ethnic mobilization that started since the collapse of the Iraqi state about three years ago that was in itself a reflection of expansionist regional aspirations towards this targeted country.. Iraq cannot avoid the destructive civil war except by selecting a government that is national and secular and that has nothing to do with this sectarian and religious ranting that has pushed this country in a dark tunnel.. There is a conspiracy that we have talked about so many times before that aims to divide up the region on the basis of sectarian and religious aspects in order to preoccupy it with itself control it and then bleed it dry economically and politically. What is going on in Iraq, Lebanon and other Arab countries confirms that the climate is now ready for this conspiracy to take place, unless, that is, patriotism awakens and the secular nationalist feeling is revitalized." -- "The damage done" Centrist, influential among the elite English daily Jordan Times (02/27) editorializes: "An inclusive political process which paves the way for the participation of all factions in a really representative government provides the only guarantee for Iraq's unity, and therefore security and stability. But the tragic bloodshed, which is the result of the sectarian violence of the past few days, makes these goals appear more and more distant, if attainable at all. What Jordan has been warning against all along . is materializing with all its horrific potential: civil war.. So much for the experts who, three years ago, swore that a Sunni- Shiite conflict was highly unlikely because of factors such as nationalism, high rates of intermarriage and the moderating influence of prominent Shiite clerics. One single most important element was capable of annulling the influence of all these and many other factors that could keep Iraq away from the brink of civil war: the US-led occupation. The rage of insurgency was fed by the many unkept promises of reconstruction, the failure to put sound development projects in place, to restore public confidence in the system and the economy, and to grant average Iraqis at least the minimum necessary to pick up the pieces of their shuttered lives. Gross abuses and human rights violations did the rest.. As the universally recognized occupying power, the United States has to accept responsibility for all this. Little matters that today American troops sit in Iraq at the request of a new government: the damage has already been done." Editorial Commentary on UAE Role in US Port Management -- "The migration of Arab investments" Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back-page of independent, mass appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (03/01): "The story of the Dubai Ports Company with the American Congress restates questions about the American-Arab relationship, and the first conclusion presupposes the need to reconsider the migration of Arab investments to western countries and especially the United States.. The story began with the Dubai company reached a deal for managing six of America's ports . but Congress leaders opposed the deal on the pretext that it constitutes a threat to national security. America's Arab friends are going to feel very embarrassed about this, because if this is the way that America's leaders look at Arabs , their countries and their money, as if they are all Taliban, then we are facing a fact that says: terrorism is just a Trojan Horse hiding a racist viewpoint against the Arabs, as the UAE Ittihad newspaper put it. Moreover, this issues raises questions about the concept of globalization and free trade agreements, and it even hurts the status of America' economy in the world, being the foundation of free economies on this planet. In fact, the most serious issue that could be deduced from the Dubai company issue is the growing tendency towards political fanaticism among the American leaderships.. Such a tendency, which is based on animosity towards all that is Arab, could be felt in President Bush's State of the Union address and the repeated call on Americans to abandon their reliance on Middle East oil.. The Dubai company's issue must not be looked at as a specific trade incident, rather it must be taken as part of the general climate of the Arab American relations and the Arab West relations." -- "When Bush is more reasonable than the majority of Americans!" Columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (02/28): "The American message in this regard is clear: any Arab and Muslim, be it Osama bin Laden or a well-known investor, is accused of terrorism until proven innocent, and the American public opinion cannot trust Arabs or hand them the management of American ports even if this was in the context of free trade. Is this not the top of racism? Bush was reasonable when he said that this position sends a wrong message, namely that the United States refuses investments for ethnic and religious reasons and that it adopts a this position against all the Arabs and not just the few who support terrorism.. I can understand the American position, but the Arabs and Muslim must conduct themselves with dignity, and the Arab and Muslim community must undertake a campaign similar to that undertaken against Denmark in terms of threatening to withdraw all Arab investments from the United States.. The relationship of the Arab world with the United States is like that of a masochist wife married to a sadistic husband: he beats her daily but she continues to love him. We lash out against the United States day in and day out, but our foremost ambition is to get the visa and immigrate to the United States . while they look at us all as if we are terrorists, so much so that President Bush seems to be more reasonable than the Congress, the media and the American public opinion." HALE