Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN5428
2006-07-19 10:46:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toVZCZCXYZ0035 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #5428 2001046 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 191046Z JUL 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2386 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0383 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1303 RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS AMMAN 005428
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 LEBANON
Editorial Commentary
-- "A severe error of calculation"
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back-page of semi-official,
influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/19): "Israel cannot coexist
with Hizbollah and it had a ready-made plan to eliminate Hizbollah
awaiting the right moment, and Hizbollah volunteered and provided
Israel with this opportunity when it attacked an Israeli military
unit, killed eight soldiers and captured two others. In itself,
Hizbollah's operation is a first-class military accomplishment, but
those who made the decision did not take the potential repercussions
into consideration. They ought to have realized that Israel will
not kneel before them asking for a ceasefire and beginning
negotiations on prisoners' exchange, but rather will take the
opportunity to eliminate Hizbollah by destroying Lebanon and
convincing the Lebanese government and people that Hizbollah's
presence on the borders with Israel entails a huge price that
Lebanon cannot afford to pay.... Hizbollah lost the justification
of its existence as a resistance organization the minute Israel
withdrew from South Lebanon, but it remained there, a state within a
state, on the pretext of Shab'a.... It is time for Hizbollah to
change from being Iran's military arm in Lebanon to become a
Lebanese political party functioning under the umbrella of the
sovereign state."
-- "Will Condoleezza Rice come to the region and when?"
Columnist Mohammad Kharroub writes on the op-ed page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/19): "U.S.
President George Bush's hint that Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice 'might' play a bigger role in the search for a solution to the
current crisis in the region suggests that ... Washington is not in
a hurry and is ready to give Israel sufficient time to complete its
mission.... We are facing a decisive week ahead where not only the
Israeli aggressive war on Lebanon is going to be decided but also
the political and diplomatic arena whose threads are beginning to
gather in Washington's hand. We must not ignore the latter's fear
of a destructive regional war that shuffles the cards and eliminates
many of the current formulas and alliances leading to the
reinvention of a new Middle East that replaces the Greater Middle
East that the Bush administration had wanted and still wants to
establish. Does Washington fear Iran's entry into the new equation
or is the time not right for dragging it into battle....? If Rice
comes to the region, her intention will not be put out the fire that
Israel ignited in Lebanon, but rather to contain a fire that, if it
erupts, will not serve U.S. interests, at least at the time being."
-- "Syria before a strategic option"
Columnist Nahed Hattar writes on the back-page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/19): "The ongoing war
between Hizbollah and Israel seems to be unsolvable. Any
backtracking on the part of Hizbollah from the minimum requirements,
namely halting the Israeli aggression and beginning prisoners
exchange negotiations, will mean the beginning of the end for
Hizbollah on the Lebanese local front.... Hizbollah's battle then
is a bone-breaking battle on the Lebanese, regional and
international levels. On the other hand, Israel - and the United
States - knows that despite the destruction its military machine
inflicted on Lebanon, a ceasefire without conditions means complete
defeat for the Israeli military and the beginning of the end for the
American-Israeli era in the entire region. That is why the
American-Israeli alliance is going to wage the battle of Lebanon's
destruction to the very end, while trying to avoid accumulated
defeats in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran.... The battle
of the American-Israeli alliance then is also a bone-breaking battle
on the Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Iraqi and Iranian fronts."
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 LEBANON
Editorial Commentary
-- "A severe error of calculation"
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back-page of semi-official,
influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/19): "Israel cannot coexist
with Hizbollah and it had a ready-made plan to eliminate Hizbollah
awaiting the right moment, and Hizbollah volunteered and provided
Israel with this opportunity when it attacked an Israeli military
unit, killed eight soldiers and captured two others. In itself,
Hizbollah's operation is a first-class military accomplishment, but
those who made the decision did not take the potential repercussions
into consideration. They ought to have realized that Israel will
not kneel before them asking for a ceasefire and beginning
negotiations on prisoners' exchange, but rather will take the
opportunity to eliminate Hizbollah by destroying Lebanon and
convincing the Lebanese government and people that Hizbollah's
presence on the borders with Israel entails a huge price that
Lebanon cannot afford to pay.... Hizbollah lost the justification
of its existence as a resistance organization the minute Israel
withdrew from South Lebanon, but it remained there, a state within a
state, on the pretext of Shab'a.... It is time for Hizbollah to
change from being Iran's military arm in Lebanon to become a
Lebanese political party functioning under the umbrella of the
sovereign state."
-- "Will Condoleezza Rice come to the region and when?"
Columnist Mohammad Kharroub writes on the op-ed page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/19): "U.S.
President George Bush's hint that Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice 'might' play a bigger role in the search for a solution to the
current crisis in the region suggests that ... Washington is not in
a hurry and is ready to give Israel sufficient time to complete its
mission.... We are facing a decisive week ahead where not only the
Israeli aggressive war on Lebanon is going to be decided but also
the political and diplomatic arena whose threads are beginning to
gather in Washington's hand. We must not ignore the latter's fear
of a destructive regional war that shuffles the cards and eliminates
many of the current formulas and alliances leading to the
reinvention of a new Middle East that replaces the Greater Middle
East that the Bush administration had wanted and still wants to
establish. Does Washington fear Iran's entry into the new equation
or is the time not right for dragging it into battle....? If Rice
comes to the region, her intention will not be put out the fire that
Israel ignited in Lebanon, but rather to contain a fire that, if it
erupts, will not serve U.S. interests, at least at the time being."
-- "Syria before a strategic option"
Columnist Nahed Hattar writes on the back-page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/19): "The ongoing war
between Hizbollah and Israel seems to be unsolvable. Any
backtracking on the part of Hizbollah from the minimum requirements,
namely halting the Israeli aggression and beginning prisoners
exchange negotiations, will mean the beginning of the end for
Hizbollah on the Lebanese local front.... Hizbollah's battle then
is a bone-breaking battle on the Lebanese, regional and
international levels. On the other hand, Israel - and the United
States - knows that despite the destruction its military machine
inflicted on Lebanon, a ceasefire without conditions means complete
defeat for the Israeli military and the beginning of the end for the
American-Israeli era in the entire region. That is why the
American-Israeli alliance is going to wage the battle of Lebanon's
destruction to the very end, while trying to avoid accumulated
defeats in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran.... The battle
of the American-Israeli alliance then is also a bone-breaking battle
on the Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Iraqi and Iranian fronts."
HALE