KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - IRAN, IRAQ, U.S. POLICY AND

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001159 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 NEA WATCHER PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - IRAN, IRAQ, U.S. POLICY AND PRESIDENT BUSH SPEECH BLOCK QUOTES -------------- SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2007 -- UNDER THE HEADLINE, "IRAN AND MUSCLE FLEXING," POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT KUWAIT UNIVERSITY DR. NOOR M. AL HABASHY WROTE IN THE PRO-GOVERNMENT ARABIC DAILY AL SEYASSAH, (07/22): "WE ARE NOT AGAINST IRAN. HOWEVER, WE ARE OPPOSED TO ITS CONTENTION THAT ANOTHER ARAB COUNTRY, SUCH AS BAHRAIN, IS NOT ARAB, THAT ITS EXISTENCE IS ILLEGITIMATE, AND THAT IT BELONGS TO IRAN. WE ALSO OPPOSE THE IRANIAN CLAIM THAT THE ISLANDS OF THE ARAB EMIRATES BELONG TO IRAN... WE KNOW THAT IRAN IS PLAYING A HEAD GAME WITH US, SIMILAR TO THE GAME THEY PLAYED WITH IRAQ. THE QUESTION IS, WHEN WILL THE PLAY BEGIN, AND WHEN WILL IRAN BEGIN FLEXING ITS MUSCLE? " -- THE MODERATE ARAB DAILY AL RAI PUBLISHED AN OP-ED BY ALI MOHAMMAD AL FAIROZ HEADLINED, "BRITISH-AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL IS INEVITABLE" (07/22): "THERE IS PUBLIC CONSENSUS IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA THAT THEIR TROOPS SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ. THIS IS A HARD BLOW TO U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN WHO BOTH FACE ENORMOUS PRESSURE FROM THEIR PEOPLE. SO WOULD THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS WITHDRAW THEIR TROOPS UNDER THESE PRESSURES? OR IS THE NEW AMERICAN-BRITISH STRATEGY OF MAINTAINING PEACE AND STABILITY IN IRAQ ABOVE ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS?" -- DAILY AL WASAT PUBLISHED AN OPINION BY DR. IBRAHIM AL-HADBAN HEADLINED, "HOW TO COMPETE WITH JEWS WITHIN THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION" "FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON'S ADMINISTRATION WAS DELUGED WITH JEWS, JUST AS THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IS FULL OF AMERICAN JEWS... THIS MEANS THAT AMERICAN DECISIONS WILL ALWAYS TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ISRAEL'S INTERESTS AND NOT THE INTERESTS OF ARABS AND MUSLIMS. MOREOVER, ALL FUTURE ADMINISTRATIONS, SO LONG AS JEWISH DECISION-MAKERS ARE IN CONTROL, WILL SEEK TO DEMEAN ARAB AND ISLAMIC COUNTRIES..." -- UNDER THE HEADLINE "PEACE: VISIONS OF BUSH AND AL-HASSAN BIN TALAL," AHMAD HUSSEIN WROTE IN DAILY AL WAST (7/22): "I WAS DISAPPOINTED AFTER LISTENING TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S LATEST SPEECH [ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE TALKS]. WILL THE CONFERENCE THAT HE HAS PROPOSED PRODUCE LEGALLY BINDING COMMITMENTS OR JUST POLITICAL DEALS? PRINCE HASSAN [BIN TALAL OF JORDAN] RECENTLY ANNOUNCED A LEGITIMATE PROJECT FOR PEACE BY INTRODUCING A LAW FOR PEACE IN ORDER TO CREATE A CHARTER FOR STABILITY." ********************************************* * FOR MORE REPORTING FROM EMBASSY KUWAIT, VISIT: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/NEA/KUWAIT/?CABLE S VISIT KUWAIT'S CLASSIFIED WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/NEA/KUWAIT/ ********************************************* * LENDERKING