US embassy cable - 04AMMAN399

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000399 
 
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 MIDDLE EAST ISSUES 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, January 19, 
highlights reports about the blast that took place at 
the U.S. headquarters in Baghdad yesterday.  Another 
lead story focuses on the domestic issue of plans for 
curricula "development", with Parliament's decision to 
refer the Ministry of Education's plan to its 
committee on education for further discussions. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Three Israeli trends in the face of the Syrian 
initiative" 
 
Columnist Abu Yazan writes on the op-ed page of center- 
left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (01/19): 
"Three Israeli trends have risen in response to the 
Syrian call for resuming negotiations, and not a 
single one is serious.  They indicate the absence of 
Israeli partners for making peace..  The common link 
among the three trends is namely the lack of readiness 
to make peace, be that in the format of rejection, 
reservation or maneuvering ..  Israel is not ready to 
make peace with Syrian.  The Israeli proposals for 
Damascus are hard to swallow, and it is likely that 
the Syrian track will stay in limbo until a year after 
the [U.S.] elections." 
 
-- "Is it not time for dawn to break the Iraqi dark 
night" 
 
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(01/19) editorializes:  "Day in and day out, the 
looming dangers of the continued American occupation 
of Iraq and the threats resulting from the absence of 
a clear American agenda for the next stage become 
clearer.  The escalation in the field and yesterday's 
attack show the lack of security in the presence of 
the occupiers and prove the high price that Iraqis are 
paying on a daily basis..  The Iraqi scene seems to be 
vulnerable to the worst and most dangerous 
possibilities, particularly with nationalistic, 
sectarian and ethnic disintegration reaching a level 
of congestion as witnessed in more than city and more 
than area in Iraq..  It is no longer sufficient to 
issue calls from one capital or another, or to settle 
for disavowing any relationship with Washington's 
plans and occupational practices.  The deterioration 
of the Land of the Rafidayn will not stop with calls 
and demands, but with serious political and diplomatic 
salvation action on all levels." 
 
-- "Sharon and three years of breaking china!" 
 
Columnist Raja Talab writes on the op-ed page of semi- 
official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (01/19): 
"When Ariel Sharon was elected in March 2001, most 
observers expected him to fail drastically and quickly 
end his political life.  All expectations saw him as a 
raging bull in a china shop, breaking everything with 
every move.  However, these expectations did not 
materialize.  True, Sharon is Sharon, a raging bull, 
but he invested everything towards making the breaking 
of china a legitimate thing, starting with the 
protective wall in April 2000, through the policy of 
assassinations, to shelving the roadmap, and the 
building the separation wall, all the way to bombing 
the heart of Damascus.  Sharon dedicated the three 
years of his term in the Israeli government to 
breaking everything, and succeeded with flying colors 
in taking everything back to square one.  The question 
is: how did Sharon manage to implement his program 
(the breaking of china) so successfully without 
significant obstacles?  There are a number of factors 
that contributed, and continue to contribute, to 
giving him the ability to continue his policy of 
keeping the peace process in the square one.  The 
first of these factors is the U.S. bias, which has 
always been present, but which became more strongly in 
favor of Sharon as a result of various Palestinian and 
Arab mistakes and regional developments.  As for the 
Palestinian mistakes, they are as follows:  The 
Intifada and the lack of a political program.. The 
failure of the Palestinian Authority to invest the 
events of 9/11 to bring it closer to the United 
States..  The Palestinian Authority's evasive approach 
towards the security requirements of the roadmap by 
trying to achieve a military truce with opposition 
factions, which made the Authority's security decision 
subject to these factions' political and regional 
interests." 
GNEHM