Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ABUDHABI22
2007-01-08 10:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: EXECUTION OF SADDAM/NEW STRATEGIES IN

Tags:  OIIP KMDR TC 
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DE RUEHAD #0022/01 0081047
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081047Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7999
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1137
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000022 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B;
RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR ERELI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: EXECUTION OF SADDAM/NEW STRATEGIES IN
IRAQ/POLITICAL IMPOTENCE OF GULF SYSTEM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000022

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B;
RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR ERELI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: EXECUTION OF SADDAM/NEW STRATEGIES IN
IRAQ/POLITICAL IMPOTENCE OF GULF SYSTEM


1. Summary: "Al-Khaleej" warns that Bush's new strategy for Iraq
will likely only make the situation worse. A female UAE columnist
in "Al-Bayan" discussed the reasons of Saddam's execution ignited
fires of sectarianism between Sunnis and Shiites and laid the
responsibility on the current Iraqi government. "Al-Khaleej" voiced
its concern over the impotence of the regional Gulf system at a time
when the situation is critical and full of clashes and blind
vendettas. End Summary.


2. Under the headline "A victory that led to defeat", Sharjah-based
pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) editorialized on
1/8:

"It is obvious that President Bush will, during the announcement of
his new strategy on Iraq, ignore the content of the Baker-Hamilton
Report and the steps required to extricate the United States from
the Iraqi quagmire. He will also ignore the calls and cries of the
Democrats for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and
against sending more troops... President Bush will not accept
defeat. He is determined to win, believing that his new military
and political team will turn things upside down and bring what other
military leaders, ambassadors and intelligence officers were not
able to achieve. However, the result will be far worse than even
now and he may be the second American president to bring defeat to
his country, after the defeat of Vietnam... This is what many
politicians and intellectuals in the United States warn of."

3. A female UAE national, Muna Al-Bahar, wrote a 01/08 op-ed in
Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan," (circulation 85,000):

"...Saddam Hussein is a criminal who killed thousands of innocent
Iraqis from all sects creating opposition groups from Shiites and
Sunnis alike. The current government seems to be doing the same
thing through its administration of political and social issues.
The sectarian massacres we hear of everyday or the details of
Saddam's trial shows that this government is racist and sectarian.
It also proves the impotence of its leadership of Iraq and its
inability to bring Iraq to a better situation, address the
devastating era of Saddam and destroy the brutal occupation... The
trial proved one point: it was a process of revenge rather than
justice. Instead of his trial and execution leading to
reconciliation and national harmony, this act of revenge gave Saddam
the chance to become a hero of the Sunni Arab resistance. It became
yet another source of frenzied sectarian violence, not only in Iraq,
but wherever there are both Sunnis and Shiites living together."



4. Under the headline "Gulf of wars", Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily
"Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) editorialized on 1/7:

"Is the Arab Gulf doomed to a life of war decade after decade and to
live in permanent fear, in response to the whims of regional and
international empires...? Hasn't the Arab regional system in the
Gulf, whether as countries or peoples, learned any lessons from the
Iran-Iraq war, the occupation of Kuwait and the war of liberation,
the siege of Iraq and the war of its occupation? Haven't we learned
from what is happening in Iraq and from our previous comments saying
that invading Iraq would be catastrophic at all levels? However,
instead of the occupation forces realizing this fact, they return to
square one by increasing the volume of their military forces in Iraq
and push their fleets and missiles to the waters of the Gulf. This
happens while Israeli influence begins directing the administration
towards confrontation and infiltration in the Gulf to turn the
situation into a destructive and explosive one. Of course all this
happens while the Iranian speech becomes more conceited and
continues to be unreasonable and inflammatory... What is happening
today is a repetition of what has happened yesterday and does not
provide any solutions... It is regrettable and worrying too is that
in times of concern and where the situation is critical and full of
clashes and blind vendettas the regional Gulf system remains a
dormant position. What is happening now in the Gulf basin is, in
short, the production of violent clashes, mined with arrogance and
sectarian blindness, and dipped in oil and dreams of empire. The
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),stands in front of the most
difficult tests. The question is: Will it move collectively, in an
active way, in order to save the region from a new catastrophe?"



ABU DHABI 00000022 002 OF 002


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MR 08 Jan 2007 UNCLASSIFIED