US embassy cable - 04AMMAN664

UNCLAS AMMAN 000664 
 
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 VP CHENEY'S REMARKS IN 
DAVOS/U.S. POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- A lead story in all papers today, January 27, 
highlights King Abdullah's meeting with the Archbishop 
of Canterbury, during which the King stressed the 
importance of maintaining Arab rights and said that 
the Christian Arab presence in Jerusalem was 
threatened by migration due to the Israeli occupation 
.  Other major stories highlight the Jordanian Prime 
Minister's expected visit to Damascus after Eid Al- 
Adha holiday next week.  Major reports continue to 
highlight developments in Iraq. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The meaning of Cheney's speech" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back-page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(01/27):  "Cheney did not criticize Sharon's action, 
nor did he ask for putting a stop to the building of 
the racist wall, nor did he call for the 
implementation of the roadmap.  All these aspects may 
disturb Israel.  But he did ask for changing the 
Palestinian leadership, for ending the Authority's 
corruption, for proliferating democracy and 
transparency and for eliminating terrorism.  After all 
this, there are still some who believe that America 
holds 99% of the capability to achieve solution or 
that it intends to equally pressure both the 
Palestinian and the Israeli parties to achieve a 
settlement that would fulfill international 
resolutions and legitimacy, as well as human rights, 
principles and values that America is calling for. 
America is not an honest broker and can never be so. 
America is Israel's strategic ally, even if that 
obstructs its alleged war against terrorism and 
defames its image in the Arab world and badly affects 
its vital interests in the region.  The American- 
Israeli relationship is not a passing political one. 
It is a permanent strategic relationship, and America 
will stand by Israel, protect it inside its borders 
and the territories it occupies, and will continue to 
guarantee Israel's military superiority over all the 
Arab countries.  America will continue to be 
completely biased in favor of Israel, so long as this 
bias is not costing America anything.  The Arab 
regimes are racing to gain America's blessings in 
order to stay in power, and so America will never 
reconsider its biased policies in favor of Israeli 
aggressions until this bias becomes very costly.  The 
Arab regimes cannot force America to pay the cost for 
its bias because they lack legitimacy." 
HALE