MEDIA REACTION: B-1 BOMBER LOSS AT AL-UDEID AIRBASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000282 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2013 TAGS: KPAO MARR MOPS PREL QA SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: B-1 BOMBER LOSS AT AL-UDEID AIRBASE Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES MICHAEL A. RATNEY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: All Qatari local dailies provided prominent front page coverage of an incident, in which a U.S. military B-1 aircraft was destroyed after it landed at Al Udeid Air Base (AUAB) in Doha on April 4 at 2110 local time. Al Jazeera satellite channel, which broke the story, provided extensive coverage of the incident. Visitors to Al Jazeera,s Arabic website were resentful of the U.S. military presence in Qatar, and viewed the incident as divine retribution for U.S. policy in the region. The fact that Al Jazeera broke the story suggests that the Qatari leadership, which must have approved the broadcast, wanted to put the story out quickly in an effort to contain it. END SUMMARY -------------- Al Jazeera Coverage -------------- ¶2. (U) At 2200 on April 4, Al Jazeera ran breaking news stating that Al Jazeera had learned that a U.S. B-52 bomber had crashed at AUAB due to a technical failure. Al Jazeera kept this information on its news scroll until 2300, when it aired a correction stating that the plane that "crashed" was a B-1. Al Jazeera then did a small informative piece about the B-1, noting that it cost $200 million to build and that it carried strategic weapons. Embassy,s Public Affairs Section received the U.S. Central Command Air Force (USAFCENT) official statement regarding the incident at 2350 and conveyed it to local media outlets by phone at once. Al Jazeera,s Deputy Chief Editor received the statement by phone around 0030 on April 5, then ran it on air at 0130. At 0215, Al Jazeera interviewed USAFCENT spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Blake, who reiterated the statement without further details. An Al Jazeera presenter asked if the B-1 was carrying any nuclear weapons, to which Blake replied that he could not discuss such operational matters. Al Jazeera continued using the term &crashed8 even after receiving the official statement. -------------- Local Headlines -------------- ¶3. (U) Local dailies avoided commentary on the incident, with some referring to it as a &crash8 and others adhering more closely to the AFCENT official statement. Following are the headlines: -- Arabic daily Al Arab (April 5): "An American plane involved in a ground incident at Al Udeid" �0A; -- Arabic daily Al Raya (April 5): "American bomber crashed, no casualties" -- Arabic daily Al Watan (April 5): "American bomber on fire at AUAB, no injuries" "The plane caught fire after landing, investigation on the way" -- Arabic daily Al Sharq (April 5): "American aircraft exploded while landing at Al Udeid" -- English daily The Peninsula (April 5): "U.S. bomber crashes" "Crew safe as B-1 catches fire after landing at AUAB" -- English daily The Peninsula (April 6): "Blogosphere buzzes with plane rumors" -- English Daily Gulf Times (April 5): "B-1 bomber catches fire in Qatar" "Crew unhurt" "Probe ordered" -- English Daily Gulf Times (April 6): "B-1 bomber had hydraulic failure" -------------- BLOCK QUOTES -------------- ¶4. (U) Following are two representative block quotes from the Al Jazeera English website and &Gulf Times.8 -- &US aircraft catches fire in Qatar8 DOHA 00000282 002 OF 003 Al Jazeera English website (April 4) &A U.S. defense official, who spoke to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, said that the bomber had hit something while taxiing. Earlier reports had suggested that the aircraft had crashed while landing at the base. The B-1 Lancer is a supersonic, long-range bomber which carries a crew of four people. Last month, a B-1 bomber slid off the runway at Anderson Air Force base on Guam, crashing into a group of emergency vehicles.8 -- &B-1 bomber had hydraulic failure8 English daily &Gulf Times8 (April 6): &Hydraulic failure caused the U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber to veer off the runway, and it caught fire following a ground incident, at the Al Udeid Air Base on Friday, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Gulf Times yesterday. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Al Udeid Air Base told Gulf Times that the aircraft, which was returning from a combat mission, caught fire and the blaze set off the munitions onboard, leading to a ground incident, involving the aircraft, the U.S. official said the phrase generally referred to cases like hard brakes, blown tiers and bird hits. He would not say whether the plane caught fire after the ground incident or before it. The official rejected suggestions that the aircraft had hit anything or any sort of collision occurred on the ground. A series of loud explosions were heard in many parts of Doha on Friday night and people living near the air base said the blasts were so strong that it shook the ground and they fled their homes, assuming that an earthquake had struck. Around 9:15pm, we heard loud explosions following which the ground shook and the walls and the ceilings of our port-a-cabins (trailers) rattled as if they were being shaken by some violent force,, they said. We ran out and saw bright flashes, fire and smoke in the direction of the air base., The U.S. spokesman said operations had returned mostly back to normal, at the air base, which is located some 35km south of Doha. Flights are landing as well as taking off,, he said. To a question, the official said there had been no casualties following the incident and the crews of four of the stricken aircraft were safely evacuated. According to him, no other airmen were involved in the accident. Answering a question about the result of the inquiry, which has been ordered into the crash, he said it was &too soon8 to come to any definite conclusion. Asked what types of weapons were on board the bomber at the time of the incident, he said the B-1 is capable of carrying a variety of bombs and naval mines. They include 24 GBU 31 or 24 MK84 bombs and 84MK 62 or 8MK 85 naval mines. The official, however, refused to specify the weapons the bomber was carrying at the time of the incident,. Since these ammunitions are reusable, whatever is unused during the mission is brought back,, he said. The B-1 is a long-range bomber capable of flying intercontinental missions without refueling and is able to penetrate sophisticated defensive networks.8 -------------- Al Jazeera Web Visitors: No Love -------------- ¶5. (U) Al Jazeera,s Arabic website published an article on April 5, 2008 titled, &The American army confirmed the crash of a bomber at the base south of Doha.8 The website noted that a DOD official stated that the reasons behind the crash were still unknown, and that DOD would investigate the incident. By noon on April 6, sixty-three website visitors commented on the story, with most expressing resentment over the U.S. presence in the region, and suggesting that the incident was divine retribution for U.S. policy in the region. One commentator said that the Saudi &heroes8 had managed to &kick the Americans out of Saudi Arabia,8 and asked when the &Qatari heroes8 would do the same. Another website visitor stated that the B-1 was returning from an operation in Iraq and, after it &killed targets there,8 God wanted to kill the Americans in return, using their own weapons. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The fact that Al Jazeera broke this story is DOHA 00000282 003 OF 003 significant. While Al Jazeera's senior staff disputes the accusation that they never provide critical coverage of Qatar, it is an established fact that the channel virtually never mentions the U.S. military presence here. Post believes that the airing of the B-1 incident must have been approved by very senior Qatari officials who were anxious to have Al Jazeera report the story first so that they could somewhat control how it was treated. With explosions rocking the neighborhood around the air base, the incident would have been difficult to quash, so in that sense, the Qataris made a prudent decision. By April 7, no media outlets carried new articles related to the incident, suggesting that the issue will not cause much stir going forward. The Qatari managers controlling all local media will also ensure that it is not commented upon by editorialists who normally show no hesitation about criticizing the U.S. military presence in the Middle East -- as long as they are talking about Iraq. RATNEY