US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6935

UNCLAS AMMAN 006935 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers over the past five days 
focuses on the formation of the new 21-member Cabinet 
in Jordan under the leadership of Prime Minister 
Faisal Akef Al-Fayez, with the elimination of the 
Ministries of Information and Culture, the appointment 
of three women ministers, and the introduction of the 
new portfolio of Ministry of Political Development. 
Lead stories in all papers today, October 27, 
highlight the attack against Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, 
where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz was 
staying.  Another major story highlights Israel's 
"largest" demolition of three apartment towers, which 
housed over 2,000 Palestinians, in Gaza. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Wolfowitz under fire" 
 
Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(10/27):  "Paul Wolfowitz, the prominent theorizer of 
the ruling right-wing's trend in Washington, was lucky 
to have had the experience of personally understanding 
the meaning of drowning in the Iraqi swamp, as 29 
missiles were launched at the hotel where he was 
staying.  The operation indicates the effectives of 
the resistance and the high degree of its 
organization, and that was not the only resistance 
action that day..  Does this say anything to Deputy 
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz?  If his answer is 
no, it is not so for the American people..  The U.S. 
administration will definitely not conclude that it 
must pack its troops out and leave Iraq for the 
strongest to take over.  Yes, the U.S. administration 
may conclude that its mission is not to be victorious 
over the resistance, to squash it and put an end to 
its existence, rather to pull the rug from under its 
feet through political steps that nullify the reason 
for its existence." 
GNEHM