US embassy cable - 03AMMAN5329

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, JO 
SUBJECT: GOJ CONDEMNS UN HEADQUARTERS BOMBING; PRESS, 
STREET REACTION SOFTER 
 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5(b) and (d) 
 
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GOJ REACTION 
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1. (U) The GOJ reacted strongly against the August 19 bombing 
of U.N. HQ in Baghdad.  Information Minister, Nabil 
al-Sharif, released a statement condemning the "criminal and 
cowardly act" and expressing hope that it would not delay 
achieving the goals of security and stability in Iraq.  The 
statement added that the U.N. "will remain an umbrella for 
international legitimacy and neutrality".  The Foreign 
Minister sent U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan a condolence 
letter referring to the "brutal and cowardly terrorist 
attack" and unequivocally condemning such acts against the 
U.N. and its staff. 
 
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PRESS REACTION 
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2. (U) Jordanian dailies analyzed the attack, asking 
rhetorically who might have carried it out and the impact it 
will have on U.S. forces in Iraq.  An editorial in the 
pro-government daily Al-Rai labeled the attack as "blind 
terrorism" and questioned the motives of the perpetrators by 
asking if it was not the UN which refused to legitimize the 
presence of U.S. and British forces in Iraq.  Columnist 
Mohammad Amayreh, also in Al-Rai, while labeling the 
resistance as "brave", distinguishes between "legitimate 
resistance" and "condemnable terrorism".  He said the bombing 
of the Jordanian Embassy and the strikes against water and 
oil pipelines are not harming the "occupation forces" but the 
Iraqis themselves and called those behind such attacks 
saboteurs rather than men of the resistance. 
 
3. (U) More cynically, Nahed Hattar, a columnist for the 
independent Al-Arab Al-Yawm, said the UN headquarters bombing 
was evidence that U.S. forces cannot maintain any level of 
public security and suggested that the situation may be 
spiraling into "utter chaos".  He surmised that the 
resistance may have targeted the U.N. because of perceptions 
that it is "functioning as a tool in the hands of the 
Americans".  Hattar feared that the strike, in the end, may 
prove beneficial to the U.S. and "might help unite the 
Security Council members behind it".  He thinks the 
resistance is "wearing down the U.S. forces" and calls for 
their withdrawal. 
 
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COMMENT 
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4. (C) Outside of official media, the reaction of Jordanians 
in the street to the bombing has been surprisingly light.  A 
comment heard from several of our contacts is that, after 13 
years of UN-imposed sanctions, many Iraqis may not see the UN 
as a neutral body or the repository of international 
legitimacy.  Others have told us that this outrage, following 
that on Jordan's embassy, has stripped the attackers in Iraq 
of any perceived credibility or legitimacy they might have 
held in Jordan as "freedom fighters". 
HALE