US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI1966

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001966 
 
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 GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR ZEYA 
LONDON -PLEASE PASS TO MOC 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ/TERRORIST ATTACKS 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  THE DETERIORATING SECURITY SITUATION IN IRAQ AND 
THE CONTINUOUS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN SAUDI ARABIA DOMINATED 
COVERAGE IN LOCAL PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA.  AN EDITORIAL IN 
"AL BAYAN" NOTED THAT THE "ANGLO-AMERICAN" OCCUPATION IS THE 
REASON BEHIND ALL THE BLOODSHED IN IRAQ.  UAE COLUMNIST DR. 
ABDULLAH AL SWAIHI POINTED OUT IN HIS ARTICLE IN "AL KHALEEJ" 
THAT ARABS DON'T ONLY NEED DEMOCRATIC REFORM BUT ALSO MORAL 
REFORM.  ANOTHER EDITORIAL IN "AL BAYAN" COMMENTED ON THE 
TERRORIST ATTACKS AND NOTED THAT THESE ATTACKS HAVE NOTHING TO DO 
WITH ISLAM OR MUSLIMS. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. UNDER THE HEADLINE "A BLOODY TRAGEDY WITH NO END," DUBAI-BASED 
BUSINESS-ORIENTED "AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/15:(CIRCULATION 
30,000) 
 
"UNTIL WHEN WILL THE BLOODSHED CONTINUE AS A DAILY SCENE IN IRAQ? 
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING THESE TRAGIC SCENES THAT SCARE 
EVERYONE WHO SEES THEM FROM INSIDE OR OUTSIDE IRAQ?. THE IRAQI 
PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY ONES PAYING THE PRICE AND SUFFERING BECAUSE 
OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN OCCUPATION, THAT OCCUPATION THAT BROUGHT 
CHAOS AND BRUTALITY.  WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE LAST TWENTY 
FOUR HOURS ARE NOT ACTS OF RESISTANCE, WILL THE RESISTANCE ACCEPT 
CIVIL VICTIMS?" 
 
3.  COMMENTING ON THE ON-GOING TERRORIST ATTACKS IN SAUDI ARABIA, 
"AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/14: 
 
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT THOSE KILLERS WHO ARE PLAYING AROUND 
WITH SAUDI ARABIA'S SECURITY ARE PART OF ISLAM, WHICH IS A 
RELIGION OF PEACE AND SERENITY. ALL THESE TERRORIST ACTS SERVE 
ONLY THE ZIONISTS AND WHOEVER IS SUPPORTING THEM IN ORDER TO 
DISTORT THE PICTURE OF ISLAM AND MUSLIMS.  WHOEVER PLAYS WITH THE 
SECURITY OF HIS COUNTRY DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE PART OF THIS 
COUNTRY, HE IS A TRAITOR AND SHOULD BE PUNISHED." 
 
4.  NOTING THAT WHAT WE ARABS NEED IS NOT ONLY DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
BUT MUCH MORE, UAE COLUMNIST DR. ABDULLAH AL SWAIHI WROTE IN 
SHARJAH-BASED ARABIC DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" ON 06/14: 
 
"WE AS ARABS AND HUMAN BEINGS NEED MORAL REFORM AND NOT 
DEMOCRACY, WE NEED A JUST IMAM, JUDGE, AND PARENT. WHAT IS THE 
KIND OF REFORM THAT THE ARABS NEED?. POLITICAL REFORM DOES NOT 
ALWAYS LEAD TO JUSTICE.  REFORM IS A MORAL PROCEDURE; MORALS OF 
POLITICS, ECONOMICS, SOCIETY, LAW, AND JUSTICE.  THE ARAB LEADERS 
SHOULD START SAYING THE RIGHT THING IN ORDER FOR REFORM TO 
START." 
 
5.  COMMENTING ON THE WHOLE WORLD'S RESENTMENT OF THE OCCUPATION 
OF IRAQ, "AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/13: 
 
". ALL THE RESENTMENT AGAINST THE WAR IN THE WHOLE WORLD SHOULD 
PUSH THE WAR MAKERS TO LEAVE IRAQ QUICKLY.  THE OCCUPATION IN 
IRAQ WILL JUST BRING MORE BLOODSHED THAT LEADS TO THE DEATH OF A 
LOT OF CIVILIANS AND MORE RESISTANCE TOWARDS THE PEOPLE WHO 
CAUSED THE WAR." 
 
6.  UAE COLUMNIST ABDULLAH RASHEED WROTE AN ARTICLE IN ABU DHABI- 
BASED SEMI-GOVERNMENT "AL ITTIHAD" ON 06/13 CRITICIZING THE ARAB 
LEADERS WHO ARE ASKING FOR REFORM FROM THE INSIDE: 
 
".  THE ARAB INSISTANCE ON REFORM FROM THE INSIDE AND NOT FROM 
THE OUTSIDE IS EXPECTED, BECAUSE THE REGIMES DO NOT BELIEVE IN 
REFORM AND DO NOT WANT IT.  WHEN THEY REJECT OUTSIDE PRESSURES, 
IT IS BECAUSE THEY KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEY HAVE NO INTERNAL 
PRESSURES ASKING FOR REFORM.  THE ARAB COUNTRIES KEEP REPEATING 
THAT THEY DO NOT REFORM FROM THE OUTSIDE BECAUSE THE REGIMES 
CAN'T ABIDE BY REAL DEMOCRACY." 
 
WAHBA