US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI4192

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; 
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH, MOC (MHAMBLEY); PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION:  ISRAEL ARAFAT POWELL VISITS IRAQ 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  ISRAEL'S DEBATE ON EXPELLING PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT 
YASIR ARAFAT AND THE VISIT OF SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL TO 
IRAQ DOMINATED COVERAGE IN UAE PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA.  AN 
"AL KHALEEJ" EDITORIAL COMMENTED ON ISRAEL'S DEBATE ON EXPELLING 
THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT.  ANOTHER EDITORIAL IN "AKHBAR AL ARAB" 
DEBATED THE MOTIVES BEHIND ISRAEL'S DECISION TO EXPEL ARAFAT.  IN 
"AL ITTIHAD," COLUMNIST DR. SHAMLAN AL EISSA DESCRIBES THE 
AFTERMATH OF 9/11 AND WHY ARABS SHOULD SUPPORT THE US IN THE WAR 
ON TERROR.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  COMMENTING ON ISRAEL'S DEBATE TO EXPEL ARAFAT AND THE U.S. 
INVOLVEMENT IN THIS, ABU DHABI-BASED SEMI-GOVERNMENT "AL ITTIHAD" 
EDITORIALIZED 9/15: 
 
"... WHAT SHARON IS SUGGESTING, WOULD NOT HAVE COME OUT OF ITS 
SHELTER IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE DOUBLE STANDARDS OF THE PEACE 
MEDIATOR'S DEALINGS WITH THE TWO SIDES OF CONFLICT.  IT (THE US) 
DROWNS ISRAEL WITH PROTECTION AND SUPPORT ... BUT IT FORBIDS AND 
PROHIBITS THE PALESTINIANS FROM THE SIMPLEST HUMANE REGULATIONS 
..." 
 
2.  UNDER THE HEADLINE, "GIVE IRAQI COUNCIL MORE POWERS," ENGLISH- 
LANGUAGE, EXPATRIATE-ORIENTED GULF NEWS EDITORIALIZED 9/15: 
 
"THE FIVE VETO-WIELDING PERMANENT MEMBERS OF THE UN SECURITY 
COUNCIL HAVE FAILED TO RESOLVE THEIR DIFFERENCES ON HOW TO OFFER 
IRAQ A FUTURE, AND HAVE LET THE IRAQI PEOPLE DOWN BADLY ... AS A 
WAY AROUND THE LACK OF UN AGREEMENT, US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN 
POWELL HAS ASKED FOR MORE NON-AMERICAN TROOPS IN IRAQ TO SUPPORT 
THE COALITION.  TWENTY-NINE NATIONS ARE PART OF THE FORCE AT THE 
MOMENT, AND 14 MORE ARE EXPECTED TO JOIN THE AMERICANS AND 
BRITISH ... THE INTERIM IRAQI ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE 
POWERS, BACKED BY COALITION FORCES WHICH GIVE WAY TO A NEW UN- 
APPROVED FORCE VERY SOON.  THE PRESENT LACK OF MOMENTUM IN THIS 
DIRECTION IS CREATING INSTABILITY, AND WEAKENING THE CHANCES OF 
LONG-TERM SUCCESS EVERY WEEK THAT IT CONTINUES." 
 
3.  CLAIMING THAT ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON HAS ALWAYS 
PLANNED TO EXPEL PRESIDENT ARAFAT, ABU DHABI-BASED PAN-ARAB DAILY 
"AKHBAR AL ARAB" EDITORIALIZED 9/14: 
 
"... IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, LEAD BY THE OLD 
WAR CRIMINAL, SHARON, IS STILL OVERWHELMED WITH ITS PLANS NOT 
ONLY TO EXPEL THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT, BUT ALSO TO ERASE ANY 
PALESTINIAN FROM RULING PALESTINIAN LANDS ..." 
 
4.  COMMENTING ON 9/11 AND ITS AFTERMATH, DR. SHAMLAN AL EIESSA 
WROTE IN "AL ITTIHAD" ON 9/14: 
 
"... THE FIRST THING THE U.S. DID AFTER 9/11 WAS LIBERATE 
AFGHANISTAN FROM THE ISLAMIC 'TALIBAN' GROUP, WHICH TRAINED AND 
SUPPORTED OSAMA BIN LADIN AND ALL THE ARAB TERRORISTS WHO 
SUPPORTED HIM ... THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN RIYADH, CASABLANCA, 
KUWAIT, ALGERIA, AND YEMEN TARGETED THESE GOVERNMENTS AND AIMED 
TO CHANGE THEM AND REPLACE THEM WITH A REGIME SIMILAR TO THE 
'TALIBAN' REGIME IN AFGHANISTAN ... THAT IS WHY IT IS NOT STRANGE 
THAT THE GULF COUNTRIES AND OTHER CIVILIZED ARAB COUNTRIES 
SUPPORT THE U.S. IN THEIR WAR AGAINST ISLAMIC TERRORIST MOVEMENTS 
... THE BIGGEST LOSER OF 9/11 IS ALL HUMANITY FROM THE SPREAD OF 
A TERRORISM THAT DOES NOT RESPECT THE SIMPLEST HUMAN RULE, WHICH 
IS THE HUMAN SOUL ... WE ARABS, ESPECIALLY GULF ARABS, 
PARTICIPATED IN SUPPORTING THE RADICAL ISLAMIC THOUGHTS BY 
FOLLOWING THESE RADICAL STREAMS ... TODAY, WE SHOULD, AND WITHOUT 
HESITATION, SUPPORT THE U.S. IN ITS WAR AGAINST TERRORISM IN 
IRAQ, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, WE WILL BE THE NEXT VICTIM OF 
TERRORISM." 
 
5.  COMMENTING ON ISRAEL'S DEBATE TO EXPEL PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT 
YASIR ARAFAT, SHARJAH-BASED PAN-ARAB DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" 
EDITORIALIZED 9/13: 
 
"... THE INTERNATIONAL WARNINGS AND RESPONSES TO THE DANGERS OF 
EXPELLING THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT LEAD ISRAEL TO A REAL 
POLITICAL CRISIS, ESPECIALLY WITH WIDESPREAD AGREEMENT THAT HE 
(PRESIDENT ARAFAT) IS THE LEGIMATELY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE OF 
THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, AND THAT THE DECISION TO EXPEL HIM IS 
CONSIDERED 'A BIG MISTAKE,' 'A FATAL HIT FOR PEACE EFFORTS,' AND 
'HAS NO WISDOM,' ALL WHICH WILL LEAD TO 'CATASTROPHIC 
CONSEQUENCES.'  THE RESPONSES TO SHARON'S DECISION ESTABLISHED 
THAT THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT IS THE ONLY LEGITIMATE POLITICAL 
REPRESENTATIVE ... FOR THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, IT IS HARD TO 
THINK OF ELIMINATING OR DISREGARDING HIM ..." 
 
WAHBA