AL JAZEERA AND NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH QATAR

S E C R E T DOHA 000371

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FOR A/S DAVID WELCH FROM AMBASSADOR UNTERMEYER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2011
TAGS: PREL PTER KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA AND NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH QATAR

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, reasons 1.4 (b&d)


1. (S) I recently asked LGEN Mike Maples USA, director of the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),to address this question:
"Does Al Jazeera's reporting/commentary incite violence
against the United States?" I did so because I have long
heard that Al Jazeera,s broadcasts do exactly this - or,
worse, as then-DepSecDef Wolfowitz told me in February 2005,
"Al Jazeera is killing Americans."


2. (S) In his reply to me of 17 Feb 06, LGEN Maples wrote
that AJ "creates an environment of legitimacy for terrorists
and appears to lend credibility to their international call
for attacks on US homeland and US interests in the Middle
East. As a result, this kind of skewed news coverage has the
potential to incite anti-US violence among segments of the
station,s viewing audience."


3. (S) I agree with DIA,s assessment and point out that its
qualified wording ("creates an environment ... appears to
lend credibility ... potential to incite") describes the
degree to which Al Jazeera threatens US personnel and
interests. In particular, DIA does not allege that Al Jazeera
is killing Americans.


4. (S) LGEN Maples, letter added: "Recent data ... on Al
Jazeera programming suggests a downward trend in such
negative reporting. This may suggest that US efforts to get
Al Jazeera to provide more balanced and objective coverage is
having some positive effect."


5. (S) On the same day that LGEN Maples wrote me, Under
Secretary for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes arrived in Doha.

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She spent a complete morning at Al Jazeera, meeting with
senior management and being interviewed. She said there and
elsewhere, "As a communicator, I cannot ignore a station that
reaches 40 million viewers." In her meeting with Qatari
foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, U/S Hughes said of
her meetings at Al Jazeera, "I told them we have seen some
improvements but would like to see more."


6. (C) From the above I conclude that, while we still have
major disagreements over Al Jazeera,s coverage (particularly
the showing of terrorist video tapes) and need to continue
pressing for improvements, the issue of Al Jazeera alone
should not stand in the way of normal relations with Qatar, a
country that hosts almost 10,000 of our troops and allows us
free and unfettered use of the vital Al Udeid Air Base.
UNTERMEYER