MEDIA REACTION: LEBANON/RICE MEETING/IRAQ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000294 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: IIP KMDR TC SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: LEBANON/RICE MEETING/IRAQ ¶1. Summary: The editorial in "Al-Khaleej" wondered how Bush could expect to win Arabs' or Iraqis' trust when he is not able to win the trust of U.S. Senators. The editorial in "Al-Khaleej" opines that all that the United States does in the region is for Israel. The editorial in "Al-Bayan" views the cancellation of the joint press conference in the wake of Secretary Rice's meeting with the Palestinian president as an indicator of the presence of deep differences between the two sides as long as the U.S. administration insists on Hamas fulfilling Israel's impossible demands. ¶2. Under the headline "Iraq's tragedy", Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) editorialized on 2/20: "...Iraq today is a Bush-production tragedy. No security. No safety. No services such as education, health and housing. Deprivation is becoming commonplace and even an endemic disease in the Iraqi community. The image of Iraq today is unarguable evidence of how the mistakes of politicians can cause disasters and tragedies to other nations". ¶3. Under the headline "Lebanon in the American cross-fire", Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) editorialized on 2/19: "...In light of Rice's positions, it can be concluded that all efforts exerted by Arab and regional parties (Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Arab League) to reach an acceptable settlement on a no win-loose basis to the present Lebanese crisis are worthless and futile as long as Lebanon is chosen to be placed on America's "frontline" against extremism. The United States has put Lebanon in the front-lines against Lebanon's own internal dissensions on which it works to fuel and aims at achieving its goal of "constructive chaos". It seeks to have constructive chaos through its new strategy and will apply it to any other Arab country that Washington sees as an obstacle... All of what the United States does in the region is for Israel... The U.S. uses "constructive chaos" as an operational arm originally devised by Israel in order to weaken and fragment the strong opposition inside and around the region. ¶4. Under the headline "Is it Bush or the Arabs who should be patient?" a columnist, Jaafar Mohamed Ahmed, wrote a 02/20 op-ed in Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000): "...If the U.S. House of Representatives, which represents the American people, does not trust Bush's strategies, but rather urges him to review them and to bring the American soldiers back to their families and homes, how can Bush then expected Iraqis in particular, and Arabs in general, to believe and trust him. This is especially true when all of his claims and pretexts used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq have turned out to be baseless? May God help the region and all Arabs and give them patience with Bush!!" ¶5. The editorial in Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" titled "The tripartite meeting: There is no longer space for further blackmail" (circulation 85,000) noted on 2/19: "The cancellation of the joint press conference in the wake of Secretary Rice's meeting with the Palestinian president indicates SIPDIS the presence of deep differences between the two sides as long as the U.S. administration keeps insisting that Hamas fulfill Israel's impossible demands. Although the issue of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to negotiate with Israel was agreed upon in Mecca's meeting, the re-raising of this issue was meant to mine the meeting today. It also means that Washington and Israel are still playing games of blackmail by demanding the impossible from Palestine and then holding it responsible for failure. After Mecca's agreement, the ball is in the U.S. court. The Palestinian side did what was required of it." SISON ABU DHABI 00000294 002 OF 002 MR 20 Feb 2007 UNCLASSIFIED