US embassy cable - 04AMMAN2356

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002356 
 
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 IRAQ AND THE MIDDLE EAST 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- The lead story in all papers published today, March 
28, highlights the "indefinite postponement" of the 
Arab summit meeting in Tunis.  Other stories continue 
to report on developments in Iraq and the Palestinian 
Territories. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The other face of the first anniversary of the 
war" 
 
Chief editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(03/28):  "Sarcastically, some people say that the 
only accomplishment of Bush's occupation of Iraq was 
the launch of Al-Hurra, which is, in itself, a humble 
media accomplishment that people hardly know  exists.. 
Today, due to the `free media' of the occupation 
forces', journalists and photographers are shot 
directly by American soldiers; reporters hear the 
sounds of explosions and fail to arrive at the scene 
due to the military barriers of oppression spread 
around Baghdad and throughout Iraq; information is 
concealed, the media is pursued and strict censorship 
is imposed on it by an occupation that claims to 
represent a model for democracy and freedom in the 
Arab world.  A year after the war, there exists 
another face to the occupation that is deliberately 
being concealed, namely the loss of security and 
stability, the prevalence of chaos and the rule of the 
law of the jungle." 
 
-- "The point of the resolution" 
 
Centrist, influential among the elite English daily 
Jordan Times (03/28) editorializes:  "Friday's 
decision by the United States to veto a U.N. Security 
Council resolution that would have condemned the 
assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader 
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin is telling.  First, it is 
Washington's unabashed acknowledgement that when it 
comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Bush 
administration sides with Israel.  Second, it is 
confirmation that, contrary to official policy, this 
Republican administration supports targeted 
assassinations of political leaders.  Third, and 
perhaps most unsettling, is that from the earliest 
days of this administration, when its principals 
steered clear of articulating their policy on the Arab- 
Israeli conflict and showed much more eagerness for 
`regime change' in Iraq, the administration seems to 
have learned very little..  At issue before the 
Security Council's members was simply the 
assassination of Palestinian leaders per se and not 
all the other related issues that Washington insisted 
be considered as well..  Normally, the Security 
Council addresses only the issue or issues placed on 
its agenda and may not go beyond them.  The agenda for 
the recent meeting of the Council was simply the 
assassination of the Hamas leader, nothing more, 
nothing less." 
 
-- "On the sidelines of the Tunis summit" 
 
Daily columnist Basem Sakijha writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/28):  "All Arab countries without exception are 
talking about reform without really defining it.  The 
Arab media outlets are full of  talk about initiatives 
adopted by the leaders, but nothing seems to happen on 
the ground..  There are twenty-one Arab countries with 
twenty-one political regimes, where laws differ and so 
do the ruling methods, and where the only common thing 
right now is the oppression of citizens and their 
absent participation in the political process and 
mysterious future.  No one can imagine an Arab reform 
process that would be achieved unanimously under any 
circumstances..  The Palestinian cause used to bring 
the Arab countries together, even in principle.  It is 
absent now.  It even causes division.  A country like 
Libya, that used to adopt the most radical proposals, 
now resorts to political realism..  The news we hear 
from Tunis portrays nothing but a farce, where the 
actors are desperately trying to influence the 
audience, who in turn respond to the jokes with bitter 
weeping." 
GNEHM