Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN5208
2006-07-12 10:49:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #5208 1931049 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 121049Z JUL 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2198 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0365 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1293 RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS AMMAN 005208
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
-- "American Immunity"
Lawyer and human rights activist Hani Dahleh writes on the op-ed
page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(07/12): "The United States of AMERICA knew that its soldiers were
going to commit many crimes in any country they occupy.... Thus,
the United States carried out a global campaign and exerted
incredible pressures on countries and was able to reach bilateral
agreements that provide immunity to its officials and soldiers from
getting sued or tried for any crime they commit in the occupied
country or other countries.... We saw the American soldiers, who
committed heinous crimes in Abu Ghraib prison and killed civilians
and children, raped women, destroyed houses and burned bodies of
victims in Iraqi cities, go unpunished and their crimes were not
even investigated. When the crime of the rape and killing of Abeer
and three of her family members was exposed, there was a media and
popular uproar there in Iraq. The Iraqi prime minister called for
reconsidering the agreement that gives immunity to the American
soldiers for the crimes they commit in Iraq.... Of course, the
prime minister's call is going to go unnoticed and will have no
effect, because the United States is not going to backtrack from the
immunity agreement and will not accept to have it amended or
cancelled. Countries that are bound by this agreement can either
nullify it unilaterally ... or not allow any American solider to
stay in the land. Otherwise, we will continue to hear about new
crimes that go unpunished."
-- "The crimes of AMERICA and Israel"
Chief Editor Taher Odwan writes on the back-page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/12): "The crimes of
Israel and AMERICA in Palestine and Iraq have become above
accountability and above international law, despite the fact that
they are crimes equal to mass extermination of people, stones and
trees. In Al-Mahmoudiyeh in Iraq, five American soldiers took turns
raping a minor girl in her own home and in front of her parents,
then killed her and her family. On the shores of Gaza, the family
of the child Huda Ghalia was exterminated and this was witnessed by
the entire world. Meanwhile, Olmert insists on continuing to shed
Palestinian blood, and there is no change in the stance of the Bush
administration vis-`-vis the crimes of his army.... Crime
committing in Palestine and Iraq continues, revealing a moral and
human collapse and deterioration, as well as political and military
failure. They, the Americans and the Israelis, are besieging
themselves in a growing sea of hatred and detestation."
HALE
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
-- "American Immunity"
Lawyer and human rights activist Hani Dahleh writes on the op-ed
page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(07/12): "The United States of AMERICA knew that its soldiers were
going to commit many crimes in any country they occupy.... Thus,
the United States carried out a global campaign and exerted
incredible pressures on countries and was able to reach bilateral
agreements that provide immunity to its officials and soldiers from
getting sued or tried for any crime they commit in the occupied
country or other countries.... We saw the American soldiers, who
committed heinous crimes in Abu Ghraib prison and killed civilians
and children, raped women, destroyed houses and burned bodies of
victims in Iraqi cities, go unpunished and their crimes were not
even investigated. When the crime of the rape and killing of Abeer
and three of her family members was exposed, there was a media and
popular uproar there in Iraq. The Iraqi prime minister called for
reconsidering the agreement that gives immunity to the American
soldiers for the crimes they commit in Iraq.... Of course, the
prime minister's call is going to go unnoticed and will have no
effect, because the United States is not going to backtrack from the
immunity agreement and will not accept to have it amended or
cancelled. Countries that are bound by this agreement can either
nullify it unilaterally ... or not allow any American solider to
stay in the land. Otherwise, we will continue to hear about new
crimes that go unpunished."
-- "The crimes of AMERICA and Israel"
Chief Editor Taher Odwan writes on the back-page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/12): "The crimes of
Israel and AMERICA in Palestine and Iraq have become above
accountability and above international law, despite the fact that
they are crimes equal to mass extermination of people, stones and
trees. In Al-Mahmoudiyeh in Iraq, five American soldiers took turns
raping a minor girl in her own home and in front of her parents,
then killed her and her family. On the shores of Gaza, the family
of the child Huda Ghalia was exterminated and this was witnessed by
the entire world. Meanwhile, Olmert insists on continuing to shed
Palestinian blood, and there is no change in the stance of the Bush
administration vis-`-vis the crimes of his army.... Crime
committing in Palestine and Iraq continues, revealing a moral and
human collapse and deterioration, as well as political and military
failure. They, the Americans and the Israelis, are besieging
themselves in a growing sea of hatred and detestation."
HALE