MEDIA REACTION: NEW STRATEGY FOR IRAQ

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RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
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USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: NEW STRATEGY FOR IRAQ


1. Summary: "Al-Khaleej" views Bush's new strategy for Iraq as
inverted logic. The editorial notes that the president has lost his
credibility and that no one inside or outside of Iraq is willing to
give him a hand. "Al-Bayan" opines that Bush ignored all advice and
decided to escalate. A columnist in "Al-Khaleej" states that the
only way the new strategy can be understood is that the President
and his team are in a hurry because they are running out of time.
"Gulf News" states that Bush's new strategy refuses to acknowledge
just how serious the situation is. End Summary.


2. Under the headline "The up-side-down logic", Sharjah-based
pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) editorialized on
1/12:

"Bush uses an inverted logic to promote his new strategy that does
not persuade his allies and at the same time does not deter his
enemies. For example, he tells some Arab nations that they must
realize that America's defeat in Iraq will create new areas of
tension for extremists and a strategic threat to their survival.
The president here forgets two important things: one is that his
war against Iraq is the main reason for the present violence and
extremism, and he was warned by many that his war would create
problems for everyone. Yet he ignored this, hoping to reformulate a
new Middle East. Second he and members of his administration urged
everyone to give in to his plan for reform in the region, clearly
telling that once his plans are set for Iraq, Iraq will be turned
into a launching pad to topple nations and reformulate others
according to his plan. He made his victory in Iraq more dangerous
to regional and international regimes than his defeat. However, now
he wants to convince everyone with a totally contradictory story.
Bush has no credibility inside and outside of his country. Everyone
in Iraq or outside is angry at his policies and skeptical of his
intents. No one is willing to facilitate his mission

3. Another editorial in Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" titled
"Bush's security options in Iraq" (circulation 85,000) noted:

"The American president reiterated it yet again. All the obstacles,
failure, fearful deterioration of the whole situation and all the
warnings, objections and recommendations that were presented as
possible breakthroughs were not enough to convince Bush change his
line. He rejected all the available alternatives and decided to
escalate and increase the number of his troops... Bush decided to
experiment with what has been under trial. The new element is that
security will be put in the hands of the Iraqis by next November.
The ball is their court and only political reconciliation among the
various factions will save Iraq from a new catastrophe."


4. Under the headline "Bush's Plan: To throw the dice", Dr. Hassan
Madan wrote in Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej"
(circulation 90,000) 1/12:

"Bush decided to ignore all recommendations by the Baker committee
and recommitted to his policy in Iraq adding more factors despite
his negative assessment of the situation there holding himself
responsible for all mistakes. The plan encountered a fierce
campaign of criticism inside the U.S. To a great extent, it seems
that President Bush and the neo conservatives behind him draw his
policies in a race with time. The period left in his second term is
short and this puts the team in an awkward and tough situation. It
obstructs their mission in Iraq especially that they are in a hurry
to direct a military strike against Iran. Bush's new policy in Iraq
can only be understood in this context."


5. Under the headline "Bush hoisted by this own petard", Dubai-based
English language daily "Gulf News" editorialized 1/12:
"Not from the Oval office but from the White House library, a
chastened US president addressed his nation. Gone was the "bring
'em on" arrogance, instead an admission of mistakes but,
disturbingly, there remained the refusal to acknowledge just how
serious the situation is."
"Iraq was previously described by Bush as the frontline on the war
on terror. Even Bush does not believe that nonsense any more, or
else why the small troop surge? The 20,000 extra troops will make
no practical difference to securing Baghdad, not if the numbers
already there cannot. The surge - the White House cannot call it an
escalation as Vietnam was "escalated" and the word is banned in
White House lexicon - is a cynical ploy by an exhausted president to
show he can still issue orders that contradict common sense. Bush

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has ignored the message of the mid-term elections, the Iraq Study
Group, Congress, his own top generals and world opinion."
"Death squads roam Baghdad's streets. On Tuesday, a typical day,
more than 40 bodies were found. This so-called surge will not
change the dire situation; no death squads will halt their macabre
work, the ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods will not cease. Bush
has little time for history. But no other president has experienced
such a wartime catastrophe since the hapless fellow Texan, Lyndon
Baines Johnson, whose political reputation never recovered from
Vietnam."
"The trouble is Iraq is far worse than Vietnam. America's loss of
prestige in the Middle East damages it to a far greater extent than
defeat at the hands of the Viet Cong. Bush's address lacked
strategy and vision. Instead of engaging Iraq's neighbors he
threatens them. Instead of acknowledging the collapse of order in
Baghdad, he denies its severity by sending so few troops. He has
spurned good advice and taken the wrong course."


SISON














MR 12 Jan 2007 UNCLASSIFIED