KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - 9/11 AND DETAINEE POLICY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003645 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - 9/11 AND DETAINEE POLICY Block Quotes -------------- Monday, September 11, 2006 -- Editor-in-chief of the pro-government Arabic daily Al-Seyassah Ahmed Al-Jarallah penned "America 'Alone' Won't Be Enough" on the front page (9/11): "Terrorists, who are active in Afghanistan and Iraq, have attacked Egypt and Saudi Arabia besides creating turmoil in India and Pakistan. We need international cooperation at the highest level to fight terrorism and to end the controversy over what constitutes terrorism and what constitutes resistance." -- Kuwait University Political Science Professor, Dr. Shamlan Yousef Al-Issa editorialized in pro-government daily Al-Seyassah under the title "September 11" (9/11): "What is intriguing is that despite the attacks by the press and media against the United States, the number of Muslims immigrating to America is constantly rising... Lastly, we see the United States as the only country capable of fighting terrorism. If it was not for the United States the terrorists would have hijacked our freedoms in the Arab Middle East." -- Under the title "9/11 Was It an American Conspiracy?" conservative columnist Ahmed Al-Baghdadi in pro-government daily Al-Seyassah (9/11): "Many do not understand that the United States is not built on principles and values that have to do with justice and equality. It was established on a set of principles pertaining first and foremost to national interests." -- "Why Remember September 11?" was the title of Mishary Nashy Al-Adwani's piece in moderate Arabic daily Al-Anbaa in which he held that (9/11): "To our friend --, the people of America, Britain, and Spain -- we stand by you in your sorrow because we share the burden of humanity. We are no different from you. As for those who want you to think that we Muslims love destruction and chaos, they are fooling themselves. We believe in a religion based on peace." -- Titled "McCarthy's September Committee" Amer Al-Hajri's piece in moderate Arabic daily Al-Anbaa contended (9/11): "May God forgive you, Bin Laden, for with your heinous terrorist act in September 2001. You awakened what was known in the 1950s 'McCarthy's Committee.' In the twenty-first century it is named the 'Bush, Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice Committee.'" -- Mikhlid Al-Shimmeri chose the title "The Fifth Anniversary of Stupidity" for his piece in moderate Arabic daily Al-Anbaa (9/11): "The crime of September 11 was not a case of heroism as the sad ones who planned it claim. Rather, it was a heinous and stupid crime that had no positive consequences aside from speeding up the demise of the terrorist regime of the 'Taliban maniacs.'" -- Columnist and member of the Kuwait Journalists Society Dr. Ayed Al-Manaa maintained in moderate Arabic daily Al-Watan under the title "September Eleventh and the Biggest Loser" (9/11): "Despite the excuses of the planners of this [September 11] operation and their sympathizers, what Muslims have experienced in the way of harassment and physical and financial damage by Americans and Westerners emphasizes that the drawbacks of September 11th were bigger than its benefits." -- In "Bush's Prisons" Ahmed Mohamed Al-Fahd argued in moderate Arabic daily Al-Watan that (9/11): "The American president should reveal the number of prisoners in these secret prisons that he had the courage to tell us about. He should tell us whether they are Arabs, Muslims, or if they are from all countries without exception. We need to know what they are charged with and will their lawyers be allowed to attend the hearing or are they not even allowed to have legal counsel." ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s KUWAIT 00003645 002 OF 002 Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON