US embassy cable - 03AMMAN8175

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 008175 
 
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 SADDAM HUSSEIN'S CAPTURE 
 
                           Summary 
 
-- The lead story in all papers today, December 15, is 
dedicated to the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam 
Hussein.  Front pages of all papers carry various wire 
service reports detailing the capture along with photos of 
Saddam Hussein when he was arrested.  A number of inside 
pages in all papers are dedicated to further details, 
including world reaction and a history of his life.  All 
papers also carry Jordan's officials reaction as stated by 
official spokesperson Asma Khader, saying that Saddam 
Hussein's "fate should be decide by the Iraqi people". 
Majority of commentaries discuss the event. 
 
                    Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "An obscene day!" 
 
Daily columnist Hilmi Al-Asmar writes on the inside page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (12/15): 
"It was an obscene Arab day.  The Arabs, or what's left of 
them, should have bowed their heads in indignation and 
declared yesterday, December 14, a black day in their modern 
history.  It is the day when murderers and criminals became 
`brothers' and beloved ones.  It is the day when the rats 
that speak Arabic dared express their gratitude to Bremer 
and to the `American brothers' and called him a dear friend, 
because they captured a historical and extraordinary Arab 
leader, who, not long ago, spoke on behalf of millions of 
Arabs and Muslims and expressed what is deep in their 
hearts!..  Had the Iraqis themselves arrested their leader, 
I would not have shed a tear for him.  Had the sons of Al- 
Rafidayn rebelled and dragged him dead in the streets of 
Baghdad, we would have said that his people have that right. 
But for a gang of murderers wearing the uniform of the 
American army to capture him, that is an obscene day.  This 
is because the murderers who captured him deserve to be put 
on trial before those very people they are stomping in the 
alleyways of Baghdad and before those who are dying on daily 
basis in Palestine..  Saddam Hussein was a dictator?  Maybe. 
Has on his hands the blood of innocent lives?  Maybe.  But 
whoever amongst you, who is suffocating your people with 
oppression, is without sin, then let him cast the first 
stone at him!" 
 
-- "Saddam Hussein's arrest marks the end of an era" 
 
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (12/15) 
editorializes:  "No doubt, the arrest of former Iraqi 
president Saddam Hussein is a significant event for Iraq's 
status quo.  From an objective viewpoint, it marks the end 
of an era that was filled with struggles and crises that 
have preoccupied the region for a long time, that left many 
a tragedy in the hearts of the Iraqi people, and that gave 
the Arab world a huge amount of division and bitterness. 
When Saddam Hussein was arrested, he was nothing but a 
symbol of a regime that fell the day Iraq came under the 
U.S.-British occupation, and yet, for the coalition forces 
and for American president George Bush, this marks a moral 
victory, whose fruits may be reaped during the next 
presidential elections.  As for the Iraqi people, the arrest 
means the end and never return of the Saddam era.  The 
remaining fact on the ground now for them is the foreign 
occupation." 
 
-- "Neither a president nor a martyr" 
 
Columnist Urayb Rintawi writes on the op-ed page of center- 
left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (12/15):  "The 
ousted Iraqi president disappointed many hopes and wagers 
that clinged on to his `historical role'.  The man, who was 
said to be leading the resistance and that the escalation of 
resistance activities in the past few months would bring him 
back to his presidential seat, ended up a compliant prisoner 
who did not resist his captivity..  The dictator is 
finished, and yet we would not have wished his end to be at 
the hands of Bremer or the American fourth division, 
although facts and realities confirm that the departure of 
these dictators would be impossible without painful surgery. 
The dictator is finished, but Iraq's would is still 
bleeding.  Iraq is far from reaching the end of the tunnel, 
and the American occupation of Iraq continues to make 
mistakes and commit sins against this brotherly country and 
this great people." 
 
-- "Saddam is arrested, the resistance will continue" 
 
Daily columnist Yaser Za'atreh writes on the op-ed page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (12/15): 
"No doubt, a significant number of Iraqis and the majority 
of Arabs and Muslims had wished a different end for Saddam 
Hussein, a more honorable one than being arrested, for the 
simple reason that the other party is more hostile to this 
nation, and that includes Iraq.  But this is one thing and 
the resistance and its future is a completely different 
thing.  I maybe disagreeing with many people when I say that 
Saddam Hussein's arrest will have positive effect on the 
resistance..  We had no illusions about Saddam Hussein's 
role in the resistance, for he was not a leader of a platoon 
or a combating division, and at best, he would have been the 
source of financing for a number of groups that are fighting 
the Americans..  Saddam was a political, popular and 
psychological burden on the resistance..  The Islamic and 
nationalist forces that are taking part in the resistance 
are now free from this difficult complex [Saddam] and can 
now present themselves as an Iraqi force expressing the 
hearts and minds of the people and struggling to liberate 
the homeland and defend the nation against a vicious 
aggression that wants nothing good to come to Iraq or its 
people, but wants to loot, prevail and extend towards the 
other Arab capitals." 
 
-- "Saddam's arrest raises Bush's electoral shares" 
 
Columnist Malek Athamneh writes on the op-ed page of semi- 
official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (12/15):  "There 
are even those non-Iraqis who have expressed real happiness 
at the news of the arrest of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam 
Hussein, and the reason for this happiness stems for the 
belief in the need to promote democracy, not only in Iraq, 
but also in the Arab world.  Yet, we worry of the 
repercussions of this arrest, particularly in terms of 
raising U.S. President George Bush's electoral shares, and 
he is as much a danger to world national security as Saddam 
was a danger to America's national security.  For the 
Iraqis, the arrest of Saddam Hussein means turning a 
significant page in a black era, dyed with blood and daily 
terror.  For the Arab world, sadness may be the prevalent 
emotion, because the issue has to do with the victory of the 
will of the occupation.  And yet, from an objective 
viewpoint, and from the viewpoint of a citizen of a world 
controlled by the Washingtonian god, Saddam Hussein's arrest 
simply means polishing the image of Bush in time for the 
presidential elections.  This means four more years for Bush 
and his associates, when Saddam is in the past and when all 
that remains to affect our lives is what the stupid white 
men of Washington want..  They arrested Saddam Hussein, yes, 
and I am sorry that he did not shoot at them or shoot 
himself, a bullet that would put us and himself at ease and 
deny Bush the huge publicity." 
 
-- "Saddam Hussein's arrest" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of semi- 
official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (12/15):  "We were 
not surprised with the arrest of Saddam Hussein.  The 
surprise was that he was not arrested during the nine months 
of occupation.  The day of Saddam's arrest is like the day 
of the fall of Baghdad: a black day in the modern Arab 
history.  A number of Iraqis were happy about the event, but 
had Saddam returned to power, the show of people's joy would 
have been much greater!  As an Arab citizen, I do not 
conceal my grief and anger about what happened.  I feel that 
the Arab nation was dealt a degrading blow that will have 
resonance and ripples in the very depth of the Arab memory 
and personality.  I know that Saddam had many enemies, that 
he was a cruel dictator, and that his rule was totalitarian. 
I would not have been sad for his fall had his fall been the 
result of a coup or a revolution by the Baath party or the 
Iraqi army or the Iraqi people.  But for him to be arrested 
by the soldiers of the American occupation army and for this 
event to be employed in increasing the popularity of the 
American president, it is unacceptable.  Iraq was not 
occupied and Saddam was not beaten because he was not 
democratic.  American is specialized in allying with and 
supporting dictator rulers.  We must remember that Saddam 
was the president of a super Arab country and that he had a 
history.  He sent his tanks to the Syrian front to ward off 
the advancing Israeli army and he sent his planes to the 
Egyptian front in 1973.  He tried to enter the age of 
technology revolution, but Israel targeted his nuclear 
reactor in 1980 and American sent the inspectors.  He 
protected the Arab world from the Khumeini revolution (1980- 
1988).  He struck missiles in the depth of Israel (1991). 
He declared that Arab oil is for Arabs.  He supported Jordan 
despite Iraq's difficult circumstances.  And he, like Abdul 
Nasser, is one of the symbols of the Arab nationalism.  For 
all these reasons, it is our right to be angry, for the 
dignity of the Arabs and the dignity of Iraq was humiliated 
by the occupying foreigner." 
 
-- "What next?" 
 
Centrist daily Jordan Times, influential among the elite 
English-speaking elite, (12/15) editorializes:  "The capture 
of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein offers closure to 
one long difficult chapter in modern Iraqi history.  The 
myth is shattered.  The once feared leader of Iraq is now a 
prisoner behind bars.  His chances of return to power are 
impossible.  This, by any serious standard, is a major 
development that marks the end of an era, with all the pain, 
suffering, and various expectations that it had carried. 
But it is also the beginning of a new era that offers its 
own set of extremely complex and trying challenges..  The 
U.S. has bigger challenges to face now that Saddam is in 
custody.  They should not naively bask in the sun of 
achievement, though extremely significant.  They cannot 
afford to be intoxicated by the victory that the arrest of 
Saddam represents.  The Americans erred greatly in entering 
Iraq without having a clear plan of action.  They now have a 
chance to right some of their wrongs and move steadily 
towards helping build a safe and modern Iraq.  The U.S. has 
showed resolve in conducting its military operations.  The 
Iraqis deserve the same resolve in Washington's plans to fix 
the power supply, end fuel shortages and provide basic 
commodities.  They need to see a plan that offers a clear 
roadmap to the final objective of leaving the running of 
Iraq to a democratically elected Iraqi government.  The 
American can now focus on helping rebuild what the sanctions 
and war have destroyed.  Their responsibilities towards the 
Iraqis are enormous.  They do not end with the capture of 
Saddam." 
 
#Gnehm