US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI4850

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004850 
 
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; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC 
SUBJECT:  SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: AL-ITTIHAD BUSINESS COLUMNIST 
REPORTS ON HIS WEEK-LONG TRIP TO IRAQ 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY: THROUGHOUT THE WEEK OCTOBER 25-31, JOURNALIST SHIHAB 
GERGASH OF AL-ITTIHAD WROTE A 7-PART SERIES DESCRIBING A TRIP TO 
IRAQ.  HIS UPBEAT ARTICLES NOTE THAT IRAQ UNDER BREMER IS FULL OF 
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES, THAT THE MARKETS IN BAGHDAD AND 
OTHER IRAQI CITIES ARE FULL OF GOODS AND LIFE IS ALMOST NORMAL, 
AND ATTRIBUTES THE DISTORTED IMAGE OF IRAQ TO THE ARAB SATELLITE 
CHANNELS.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  UAE COLUMNIST AND BUSINESS WRITER SHIHAB GERGASH WROTE IN ABU 
DHABI-BASED SEMI-OFFICIAL ARABIC DAILY "AL-ITTIHAD" A 7-PART 
SERIES ON A TRIP TO IRAQ.  IN THE FIRST SEGMENT ON OCTOBER 25, HE 
WRITES THAT "WE HEAR AND READ ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN 
OCCUPIED IRAQ.  IN THESE CLOUDY CIRCUMSTANCES I MADE A TRIP TO 
IRAQ THROUGH WHICH I TRIED TO SEPARATE LIES FROM FACTS.  DURING 
THIS WEEK WE WILL REVIEW WHAT I SAW THERE WHICH BRINGS WITH IT 
PROMISES OF A BETTER FUTURE AND WARNINGS AGAINST THE FALL IN THE 
ABYSS.  THE IRAQ OF BREMER THAT WE SEE TODAY IS FULL OF 
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES AT THE SAME TIME." 
 
3.  "...THE IRAQ OF BREMER IS MORE LIKE A WHITE PAINTING WHERE 
THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ ARE DRAWING THEIR VIEW FOR A BETTER FUTURE AND 
MORE HONORABLE LIFE.  IT IS A CHANCE TO BUILD A NEW SOCIETY ON A 
SOUND BASIS AND A STRONG ECONOMY THAT WOULD BE A MODEL FOR ALL... 
THE IRAQ OF BREMER IS A PROVISIONAL STOPPING POINT ON THE ROAD 
TOWARD AN INDEPENDENT IRAQ.  HOWEVER, FOLLOWING (ARAB) SATELLITES 
EVERY EVENING PERSUADES US OF THE POOR SITUATION AND DESPAIR IN 
THE FUTURE." 
 
4.  PART TWO TELLS THE READERS THAT BAGHDAD'S MARKETS ARE FULL OF 
GOODS WHERE IRAQIS AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS BUY THEIR NECESSITIES 
TOGETHER.  "IN GENERAL MONEY IS AVAILABLE AND THE CONSUMER WANTS 
TO END LONG YEARS OF DEPRIVATION WITH VERY LITTLE LUXURY..." 
 
5.  IN THE THIRD SEGMENT, GERGASH NOTES THAT "BAGHDAD'S STREETS 
BECOME EVACUATED AT NIGHT AND EVERYONE AVOIDS LEAVING, AVOIDING 
THE CRIMINAL ELEMENTS AND THE CURFEW THAT BECOMES EFFECTIVE AT 
MIDNIGHT.  THEREFORE, WE GATHER AROUND THE TV WHERE THE SATELLITE 
CHANNELS BECOME THE ONLY TOOL THAT TELLS US ABOUT ANYTHING THAT 
HAPPENS OUTSIDE.  THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REALITY AND 
WHAT WE SEE IN THE NEWS CHANNELS.  EXCEPT FOR THE NIGHT OUTINGS, 
EVERYTHING IS ALMOST NORMAL... THE PROBLEM OF THE DISTORTED IMAGE 
OF IRAQ IN THE EYES OF THE ARABS IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ARAB 
SATELLITES THAT HAVE NOT SUCCEEDED IN PORTRAYING AN IMAGE AWAY 
FROM EMOTIONAL EXAGGERATION.  EMOTIONS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE 
REASON FOR MOST OF OUR CRISES IN THESE BITTER DAYS WE LIVE IN." 
 
6.  IN THE FOURTH SEGMENT, THE AUTHOR TALKS ABOUT KURDS WHO ARE 
CONFUSED BETWEEN THEIR EMOTIONAL DESIRE FOR AN INDEPENDENT 
KURDISH STATE AND THEIR REASON THAT WARNS THEM AGAINST THE 
SEPARATION FROM THE BIGGER IRAQ. "THE CITIES OF KURDISTAN ARE 
MORE SECURE AND CLEANER THAN THE REST OF IRAQI CITIES AND LIFE IS 
NORMAL UNDER THE CONTROL OF KURDISH PARTIES..." 
 
7.  IN EPISODE FIVE, GERGASH TALKS ABOUT THE AMERICAN 
DETERMINATION TO PROVIDE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LARGEST 
NUMBER OF IRAQI PEOPLE, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT EVEN THEY DO NOT 
KNOW HOW.  "IN ANY CHAT WITH AMERICAN OFFICIALS THEY REITERATE 
THAT THE INEVITABLE ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BOOSTING OF THE ROLE 
OF THE IRAQI CITIZEN IN REBUILDING THEIR NATION WILL BE DONE 
THROUGH TRADE AND INVESTMENT AND OTHER INCREASING BUSINESS 
ACTIVITIES.  THE QUESTION OF PRIVATIZATION IS ANOTHER ISSUE OF 
CONFUSION... DUE TO THE SECURITY SITUATION..." 
 
8.  IN THE SIXTH EPISODE, THE AUTHOR TELLS US ABOUT HIS TRIP TO 
FALLUJAH, WITH IMAGES OF BOMBS, BATTLES, AND APACHES.  "FALLUJAH 
WAS FREE OF ANY AMERICAN PRESENCE BECAUSE THEY HAVE DECIDED TO 
QUIT THE CITY AND ONLY GO THERE WHENEVER IT IS NECESSARY.  THE 
CITY DOES NOT SEEM THE RIGHT PLACE TO HAVE LUNCH, BUT THIS IS 
WHAT WE DID.  WE DECIDED TO GO AND HAVE LUNCH AT HAJI HUSSEIN'S 
RESTAURANT...WITH A LARGE CROWD OF TRUCK DRIVERS AND OTHERS..." 
 
9.  IN THE LAST EPISODE THE AUTHOR TELLS US THAT HE VISITED IRAQ 
BY LAND FROM AMMAN, CROSSING A DESERT OF MORE THAN 1000 
KILOMETERS BY VAN.  "THE DRIVER HAS BEEN DOING SO FOR LONG YEARS. 
THE DRIVER'S RELATIONS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY IMPORTANT AT THE 
JORDANIAN-IRAQI BORDERS.  THE JORDANIAN BORDERS ARE STRANGE.  ON 
ONE HAND THEY REPRESENT AN EXIT SIMILAR TO THE UMBILICAL CORD FOR 
THE JORDANIAN ECONOMY FOR TWO DECADES.  THE ROAD ON THE JORDANIAN 
SIDE IS OLD AND DANGEROUS, THE INSTALLATIONS ARE AGING AND THE 
TREATMENT OF THE CUSTOMS VERY DRY, AWAY FROM ANY HUMAN AND 
COOPERATIVE SPIRIT.  HOWEVER, MY TREATMENT WAS PREFERABLE BECAUSE 
I WAS FOREIGNER AND NOT IRAQI.  THIS IS WHY I ASKED THE DRIVER TO 
TAKE ME TO THE AIRPORT WHERE I MANAGED TO ARRANGE MY RETURN TO 
THE UAE.  MY WEEK'S EXPERIENCE IN IRAQ WAS FULL OF EXPERIENCES 
THAT WOULD TELL US WHERE IRAQ IS HEADING IN THE FUTURE." 
 
ALBRIGHT