US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI5136

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 005136 
 
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 MOC, GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: BUSH'S IRAQ VISIT; SHARON'S GOVERNMENT 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  "AL-KHALEEJ" AND "GULF NEWS" FEEL THAT BUSH'S VISIT 
TO IRAQ WAS A FAILURE, BOTH AS A MEANS TO BOOST THE LOW MORAL OF 
US TROOPS IN IRAQ AND AS A PUBLIC RELATION PLOY IN HIS REELECTION 
CAMPAIGN.  ANOTHER EDITORIAL ALSO IN "AL-KHALEEJ" OPINES THAT 
SHARON'S US-BACKED GOVERNMENT HAS CLOSED ALL DOORS FOR PEACE AND 
IMPLICITLY CALLS ON ALL PALESTINIAN FACTIONS TO RECONSIDER THEIR 
CALCULATIONS AND USE ALL MEANS TO LIBERATE THE TERRITORIES.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  UNDER THE HEADLINE "A FAILED VISIT", SHARJAH-BASED AND PAN- 
ARAB DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" 11/29 EDITORIALIZED: 
 
"FOR BUSH TO VISIT IRAQ, THAT IS NORMAL AND POSSIBLE.  NO ONE CAN 
DETER HIM OR PREVENT HIM.  THE COUNTRY IS OCCUPIED FOR EIGHT 
MONTHS AND THE ABSOLUTE POWER IS IN THE HANDS OF THE AMERICAN 
GOVERNOR PAUL BREMER, AND BEHIND HIM ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY 
THOUSAND SOLDIERS EQUIPPED WITH THE MOST UP-TO-DATE AND ADVANCED 
WEAPONS IMPOSING THEIR CONTROL ON THE ENTIRE NATION AND ITS 
PEOPLE FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH.  HOW COULD THE AMERICAN 
SOLDIERS WHO ARE TIRED AND SCARED DEAL WITH THIS VISIT, WHEN 
THEIR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ARRIVES IN A SITUATION CLOUDED BY 
AMBIGUITY AND SECRECY?  HE CAME FAST AND LEFT FAST AND WAS NOT 
RECEIVED AS HE SHOULD AS A COMMANDER BY HIS OWN SOLDIERS AND NOT 
AS A LIBERATOR BY THE PEOPLE WHO HE CLAIMS TO HAVE LIBERATED TO 
LEAD THEM ON THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY.  THE VISIT WAS NOT MEANT TO 
BOOST THE MORAL OF HIS SOLDIERS; THEREFORE, IT HAD ANOTHER GOAL 
RELATED TO THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND HIS AMBITIONS 
FOR A SECOND TENURE.  THE VISIT WAS A PUBLIC RELATIONS GESTURE 
AIMED AT AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION.  EVEN THIS GESTURE MAY NOT BE 
IN HIS INTEREST AND MAY BACKFIRE BECAUSE THE PUBLIC WHICH SEES 
THEIR PRESIDENT BEHAVE IN SUCH A MANNER WILL BE OVERWHELMED WITH 
DOUBT REGARDING HIS POLICIES AND PRACTICES.  FORMER PRESIDENT 
JOHNSON VISITED VIETNAM AND TOOK PICTURE WITH THE AMERICAN 
SOLDIERS WHO WERE FIGHTING THERE, BUT THAT DID NOT DO HIM ANY 
GOOD WHEN HE DECIDED TO RUN FOR ANOTHER TERM.  HAD BUSH STAYED 
WITH HIS FAMILY TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 
BETTER THAN SNEAKING IN AS IF SCARED TO MEET WITH HIS ENRAGED AND 
FEARFUL SOLDIERS." 
 
3.  CHIEF EDITOR OF THE DUBAI-BASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY "GULF 
NEWS" WROTE 11/30: 
 
"THE HEAD OF STATE OF THE STRONGEST NATION ON EARTH WILL NOT 
NORMALLY MAKE A SNEAKY AND PANICKY VISIT TO A COUNTRY WHICH IS 
WHOLLY OCCUPIED BY HIS TROOPS, UNLESS HE IS TERRIFIED AND UNSURE 
OF HIS OWN SAFETY.  THAT WAS WHAT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH DID 
WHEN HE SNEAKED INTO BAGHDAD TO TRY TO LIFT THE MORALE OF HIS 
SOLDIERS.BUT THE TRIP WAS COUNTER PRODUCTIVE BECAUSE BUSH APPEARS 
TO HAVE DEMORALIZED HIS TROOPS, AS THE VISIT WAS SURROUNDED BY 
LIES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. IN DOING SO, BUSH HAS CONFIRMED THE 
ARAB SAYING: "TRYING TO IMPROVE IT, HE SPOILED IT.. THE U.S. 
ADMINISTRATION COULD HAVE ANNOUNCED BUSH'S VISIT IN ADVANCE AND 
AT THE SAME TIME TAKEN PRECAUTIONARY SECURITY MEASURES.  I CANNOT 
SEE ANY CONTRADICTION IN SUCH A PROCEDURE GIVEN THE UNITED 
STATES' ENORMOUS MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE MIGHT.  WITH SUCH A 
WELL-PREPARED VISIT, BUSH COULD HAVE SENT A STRONG MESSAGE OF 
SELF-CONFIDENCE AND TRIUMPH TO HIS DEMORALIZED FORCES IN IRAQ." 
 
4.  UNDER THE HEADLINE "THE ALTERNATIVE FOR PEACE", "AL-KHALEEJ" 
11/30 EDITORIALIZED: 
 
".SINCE THE SHARON GOVERNMENT HAS BLOCKED ALL DOORS BEFORE ANY 
EFFORTS TO REACH A SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE, AND SINCE THE US 
PUBLICLY SIDES BY ISRAEL IN ITS AGGRESSION, THE PALESTINIAN 
FACTIONS AND ORGANIZATION SHOULD MAKE A NEW CALCULATION AND DEAL 
WITH THE OCCUPATION AS A REALITY THAT SHOULD BE ELIMINATED BY ALL 
MEANS AND TOOLS AVAILABLE... THE ALTERNATIVE BY ISRAEL AND 
AMERICA IS TO FORCE THE PALESTINIAN TO KNEEL DOWN, BREAK THEIR 
WILL AND IMPOSE SURRENDER ON THEM AND LATER ON ALL ARABS." 
 
ALBRIGHT