Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT48
2007-01-14 14:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

KUWAITIS SKEPTICAL ABOUT PRESIDENT'S NEW IRAQ

Tags:  PGOV KMDR IZ KU KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7831
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #0048/01 0141455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141455Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8049
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000048 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/I AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KMDR IZ KU KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: KUWAITIS SKEPTICAL ABOUT PRESIDENT'S NEW IRAQ
STRATEGY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000048

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/I AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KMDR IZ KU KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: KUWAITIS SKEPTICAL ABOUT PRESIDENT'S NEW IRAQ
STRATEGY


1. (SBU) Summary: Although the Kuwaiti government welcomed
the President's new Iraq strategy, the Kuwaiti public was
more skeptical. While praising the strategy's ultimate goal
of stabilizing Iraq, Kuwaitis expressed doubt that a
temporary increase in the number of troops would achieve this
objective. Some editorialists also took the opportunity to
criticize the Administration for what they perceive as the
failure of other U.S. policies in the region, most notably
with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. End summary.


2. (SBU) Quoting an unnamed government source, Kuwait News
Agency (KUNA) reported January 11 that Kuwait "followed with
interest" the President's speech outlining his new strategy
on Iraq. "Kuwait hopes this plan will be a constructive step
to tackle the deteriorating security situation, and
contribute to achieving security and stability...within a
free, secured and united Iraq," KUNA reported. Khaled
Al-Jarallah, the Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, told the Ambassador the GOK believed it was "a great
plan" and hoped it would succeed.


3. (SBU) Among the Kuwaiti public, however, the President's
new Iraq strategy was greeted with more skepticism. While
supporting the goal of stabilizing Iraq, Kuwaitis questioned
whether the strategy would be more effective than previous
approaches in achieving that objective. Dr. Abdullah Sahar,
a Shi'a political science professor at Kuwait University,
told Poloff January 14 that he was pleased that the new
strategy showed that the U.S. had learned the lesson that
control of Baghdad was essential to controlling the rest of
Iraq. However, he urged U.S. to make decisions based on
military, not political considerations. Sahar argued that
providing jobs and essential services to Iraqis was more
important than cracking down on the militias and would
ultimately lead to a political solution. He also advised the
U.S. to "keep your eye on the ball (i.e. Iraq)," rather than
getting distracted by other regional problems. In a separate
January 14 conversation, former Shi'a Minister of Information
Dr. Saad bin Teflah told Poloff he was not optimistic that
the President's new strategy would succeed. He argued that

the U.S. must do two things to stabilize the situation in
Iraq: first, listen to its "old friends" in the Arab world;
and second, clearly elaborate its policy on Iran, which
strongly affected regional perceptions of events in Iraq.


4. (SBU) Editorialists generally echoed these views.
Liberal columnist Dr. Ayed Al-Manna wrote in Al-Watan (local
Arabic daily) January 13, "The new strategy of (President
Bush) may constitute a workable and basic blueprint to
control the state of turmoil currently prevalent in Iraq, but
this measure will not be better than the earlier plans since
they have not been translated into deeds on the ground." He
went on to advise the U.S. to "start another war (against
insurgents in Iraq) to provide security and stability for all
Iraqis." Liberal lawyer and columnist Mohammed Al-Saleh
echoed this view, saying "I don't think this new
strategy...will help solve the disputes and wars in the
Middle East." He argued that America's sophisticated
weaponry was useless against suicide bombers and IEDs.
Al-Saleh characterized the conflict in Iraq as a struggle
between Iran, Syria, and the Iraqi Ba'ath Party on one hand
and the U.S. and the Iraqi government on the other, and
concluded by emphasizing that "containing tensions in the
Middle East rests on containing their causes."


5. (SBU) Some were more critical and used the opportunity to
criticize other U.S. policies in the region. In a January 13
editorial in Al-Qabas (local Arabic daily),former Shi'a
Member of Parliament Dr. Abdul Mohsen Jamal accused President
Bush of "turning a deaf ear" to the many voices calling for a
different approach and only listening "to the Republican
hawks who are known to sympathize with the Zionists." Jamal,
who is often critical of the U.S. and supportive of Iran in
his writings, added that the President was only looking to
blame the Iraqi government and regional states for U.S.
failures in Iraq. He concluded by advising the GCC 2 against
supporting "a new war to be waged by the U.S.
administration."


6. (SBU) Another pro-Iran, anti-American Shi'a columnist,
Dr. Sami Khalifa claimed the United States' "failure to
dominate (Iraq's) national resources" had caused the
President to "lose his balance." President Bush "is
currently thinking of drowning the whole region in a state of
sedition among various sects and doctrines," he claimed. In
a separate January 13 editorial, Salafi Islamist columnist
Ahmed Al-Kaus took a slightly more neutral tone, but warned
that the U.S. was seeking "to involve our countries once
again in a losing war of which we will be the first victims."

KUWAIT 00000048 002 OF 002


He identified the "hateful sectarianism against the Sunnis
(in Iraq) at the hands of the death militias" as the primary
problem facing that country.

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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/
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LeBaron