KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - AMERICAN POLICY, IRAQ, AND IRAN

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000593 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 TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - AMERICAN POLICY, IRAQ, AND IRAN Block Quotes -------------- Monday, April 23, 2007 -- Critic of U.S. policy conservative Islamist Shiite Dr. Abdul Mohsen Jamal penned in progressive Arabic daily Al-Qabas under the title "Arab Prostration" (04/23): "The Arab world is currently heading in an unknown direction. It is clear that the American administration would like to end up achieving any type of success. The weakest of challenges is moving Arabs towards recognizing Israel; hence, the push by Americans and Zionists towards this goal." -- Critic of U.S. policy conservative Islamist Shiite Dr. Sami Khalifa commented in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai under the title "Let Us Trade 'the Debts' for Iraqi Gas" (04/23): "As a way out of the embarrassing situation faced by the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry upon receiving successive appeals by the Iraqi official delegations to write off debts owed by Iraq amounting to 47 billion U.S. dollars -- in addition to the immense pressure from the members of the National Assembly for the [Kuwaiti] government to relinquish its legal right and the difficulty the Iraqi government is having paying off these billions, at least in the near future -- the most timely and probable solution is to trade these monies for Iraqi gas." -- Under the title "More than Expected" Dr. Ahmad Al-Duaij contended in conservative Arabic daily Al-Watan (04/23): "The Americans are primarily responsible for what is going on in Iraq.... The dismantling of the Iraqi Army by the Americans led to the absence of the deterring power that was capable of preventing the deterioration of the security situation and the complete chaos on all fronts after the collapse of Saddam's regime." -- Under the title "Our Problem with Sectarian Practices" Abdul Hussein Al-Sultan editorialized in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai (04/23): "We are living through dangerous times, where sectarian threats surround us from all sides. That is why we need to remove such sectarian thoughts and rid ourselves of the extraordinary sensitivities when dealing with others who are different. That is the time bomb that threatens our small society the most. Iraq is not far from us, the best solution is mutual respect for ideas and beliefs." -- Government-leaning liberal Dr. Ayed Al-Mana stated in conservative Arabic daily Al-Watan under the title "Preparing for a Crisis Does Not Spare Us from Moving to Prevent It" (04/23): "Kuwait is not the only country that should prepare for the likely Iranian-Western confrontation. It seems that the GCC countries' destiny manifests that they be targets for any Iranian reaction." -- Under the title "Impressions from Iran" (part two of a series of articles) liberal Dr. Shamlan Al-Issa observed in pro-government daily Al-Seyassah (04/23): "Islam in Iran is completely different from the impressions created by the Iranian politicians about their country." ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * LEBARON