SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: VP CHENEY'S MIDEAST VISIT

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000365 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 SREEBNY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: VP CHENEY'S MIDEAST VISIT ¶1. SUMMARY: One op-ed piece strongly attacks Vice President Richard Cheney's visit to the region, claiming that the objective of his visit is to dictate to Arab allies that their alliance with America will be on America's terms, all that is required of them is surrender. End summary. ¶2. An op-ed piece in the Sharjah-based Arabic daily "Al-Khaleej" 3/19 entitled "Five Years of war and creative chaos" opined: "...The U.S. succeeded in destroying a large and rich Arab nation and that destruction is the model the U.S. will follow in its aim to threaten Iraq's neighbors. The U.S. succeeded in spreading creative chaos through Iraq. U.S. Vice President Cheney, known as the leader of the war gang inside the White House, now comes to the region on the fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Does he come, as Washington claims, to reassure Arabs and Israel of the American commitment to peace, or does he come for other objectives that he wants to achieve before he and his President quit the White House in few months? He came to warn his Arab allies with worse consequences: Iraq is destroyed in front of you, a strong Israel is behind you, and the American fleets are surrounding you so the oil is ours and you must give in to our terms in any alliance in this American era. The irony is that Arabs seem to be surrendering and even welcoming this." QUINN