MEDIA REACTION ON MIDDLE EAST

UNCLAS AMMAN 003987 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 Editorial Commentary on Iraq -- "Darkness in Iraq" Chief Editor Taher Odwan writes on the back-page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (06/06): "The perpetrators of the sectarian crimes committed in Baghdad and Basra these days belong to the culture of the American-British invasion. In fact, even before the occupation, there was an imposed sectarian division brought about by lines of latitude: Kurdish north, Shiite south and Sunni center. This division was imposed by Washington and London air embargo since 1991. It is the basis of the crimes that are now being committed on sectarian backdrops. Rumsfeld may be able to exonerate his troops from the massacres of Haditha and Ishaqi just as he did when the torture scandal of Abu Ghraib prison broke out. But he cannot exonerate himself or his troops from this daily episode of beheadings, attacks on mosques and igniting sectarian dissension. He cannot do that because he blessed and organized them. These crimes are not on the list of his mistakes, rather a deliberate and planned action. This darkness that is enveloping Iraq is designed by the gang of neo- conservatives who deserve to be taken to international criminal court.. Iraq needs an international fire brigade, an international Interpol, a campaign launched by the international community against the American-British occupation, a campaign of denunciation and moral, material and humanitarian accountability for all the crimes that have been committed against the Iraqi people under the occupation.. What Iraq needs is not to continue Bush's political process, but an all out war against this darkness that is producing war and crime rats and blood-shedders." -- "Playing with nations and puppets!" Columnist Mohammad Kawash writes on the back-page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (06/05): "Centuries after the fall of the Roman empire, history is repeating itself, as we see the rise of the American empire under the new Caesar with a near-madness power that has tempted him to resort to the use of force and domination, and to launch wars, occupy nations, oppress people and steal their fortunes, at a time when peoples and nations no longer believe in wars as a method to resolve their disputes. Washington has resorted to the law of the jungle to settle its scores in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has used the old of method of colonization, a method that was buried in the cemetery of history ever since the rise of national liberation movements that led people to freedom and independence. The Americans are trying to play with nations as they would play with puppets. That is why we are now seeing this extensive campaign by nations against the United States and its tyranny. That is why we are seeing the anti-America flood of hatred overtake most continents, all because of the madness of power and glory that has inflicted the leaders in the White House." -- "It is truly the beginning of the end" Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (06/05): "The massacre committed by the American forces in Haditha brought back to mind the massacre of Mai Lai in Vietnam in March 1968, which is denoted in history as the beginning of the moral collapse of the American intervention in Vietnam and the expansion of the anti- Vietnam war sentiments in America and the world. Since the beginning, the U.S. administration rejected any comparison between Vietnam and Iraq. Moreover, it wanted its involvement in Iraq to be a declaration about surpassing the Vietnam complex. Yet, the intervention in Iraq does not only recall the Vietnam model, but the comparison between the two makes the intervention in Iraq all the more politically devastating. In Vietnam, the justification was stronger. After all, there was a universal Cold War and the American army had to support its allies and prevent the fall of southern Vietnam in the hands of Communism. What has the American intervention in Iraq accomplish? America's only friends in Iraq are the allies of Tehran, America's number one enemy, and instead of wiping out terrorism, the occupation turned Iraq into an arena for terrorism.. What remained was the 'noble' mission of liberating the people of Iraq from dictatorship. We stand now seeing American soldiers kill Iraqi families with women and children to avenge the killing of a colleague of theirs who died in an explosion in that area.. Of course, tens of Iraqis are brutally killed every day by various militias and terrorist groups. But these are wanted criminals sought out by law and justice, which are represented by the American forces. So how does the American official allow himself to compare by saying that what the terrorists are doing is more brutal!" Editorial Commentary on Palestinian Issues -- "Protecting Jordan and Palestine" Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (06/06): "The situation in Palestine is going from bad to worse. The Israeli Prime Minister is moving towards the unilateral demarcation of Israel's borders. The Palestinian government is providing him with the tools, and the Palestinian political chaos is facilitating the Israeli task. Jordan is going to be the worst affected by the situation that will result from this status quo. Ehud Olmert's success in his schemes will mean killing off the option of the Palestinian state, and this in turn will revive proposals for resolving the Palestinian issue at Jordan's expense. Subsequently, the entire situation in the region will blow up. Neither will the Palestinians accept to be usurped of their right to their state, nor will the Jordanians accept the establishment of a Palestinian state in their homeland.. The Palestinian internal affairs are Jordan's internal affairs.. What the Hamas government does in Palestine has direct effect on Jordan's security. Logic says that Jordan must move from being influenced to being the influencer. This does not mean that Jordan should compete with the Palestinian government over running the Palestinian affairs.. But the Jordanian government is responsible for protecting Jordan's interests. It is a responsibility that precludes that Jordan does not pay the price for Israel's expansionist and colonialist aspiration or for the Palestinian government's political chaos. Such an argument must not remain within the confines of theories of sovereignty and not intervening in others' affairs. The Palestinian government intervenes in Jordanian affairs in terms of the fact that its decisions and policies are going to affect Jordan as much as the Palestinians. This gives justification for Jordan's intervention in Palestinian affairs in terms of influencing the Palestinian government's decisions and policies.. This is not a call to boycott the Hamas government. On the contrary, it is a call for positive political engagement with that government through a dialogue that is based on a principled stand of rejecting wrong policies and supporting those that protect Jordan and Palestine." Editorial Commentary on Jordan's Draft Anti-Terrorism Law -- "Let us fight terrorism . without knowing what it is! Columnist Bater Wardam writes on the inside page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (06/06): "With regards to the Anti-Terrorism Law that the Government prepared last week, one could discuss two main issues in it. The first relates to the actual need for such a law, and the second relates to the content of the law. As for the need of an anti- terrorism law, many supporters of freedom, democracy and human rights . argue that there is available many penalty laws that would be sufficient to put a stop to terrorism and that there is no need for a new law that would contribute going back to martial law, to placing many citizens under security suspicions, and to restricting many of the cultural, civil and political rights.. Personally, I tend to argue in favor of an anti-terrorism law, because, as a Jordanian citizen, I want to see anyone who plans, finances or threatens to undertake terrorist actions against Jordanian citizens behind bars. But, it is also my opinion that the current law as presented by the Government is similar to swiping a fly. The most important thing about an anti-terrorism law is that it should specify the target group and not just place almost all Jordanian citizens in the circle of suspicion and constitute a legislative tool to curb and oppress many peaceful and ordinary political activities supposedly protected by the Constitution. The main deficiency in the proposed law is that it lacks a definition for terrorism.. Let me be clear about my personal support for developing an anti-terrorism law in Jordan, as many others countries suffering from this plague have done. But one cannot, under any circumstances or justifications, accept the current draft provided by the Government because of the absence of a definition for the term 'terrorism'. Without such a definition, this law might just as well be a sword hanging over the necks of all the people, not just the extremists who constitute the nucleus of terrorism." HALE