US embassy cable - 04AMMAN5080

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005080 
 
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 THE AL-QAEDA BEHEADINGS 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, June 22, focuses on 
a local story that broke out yesterday about the 
discovery of leaked high-school final exam papers and 
the postponement of these exams as a result.  The 
story is treated a scandal with many parliamentarians 
and individuals calling for the resignation of the 
Minister of Education.  The lead story in all papers, 
June 21, focused on King Abdullah's telephone 
conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince, during which 
he expressed Jordan's support for the Saudi fight 
against terrorism, and emphasized that "terrorist 
attacks, whose victims are mostly civilian, have 
greatly harmed Muslims and their causes." 
 
          Representative Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Time to take a stand" 
 
Centrist, influential among the elite English daily 
Jordan Times (06/21) editorializes:  "His Majesty King 
Abdullah spoke on behalf of all true Muslims when he 
expressed shock and revolt at the savage beheading of 
American hostage Paul Johnson by Al-Qaeda terrorists 
in Riyadh....  Such tragic episodes do not only mar 
the image of Islam; more importantly, they raise 
questions as to the direction radical, fanatical 
Muslims lead the Muslim nation on....  if Al-Qaeda 
believes that it can continue to take the life of 
innocent people in the name of God and Islam with 
impunity, then the struggle against it must intensify. 
King Abdullah showed in the clearest possible terms 
where we stand on this issue.  What remains to be done 
is the expression of a similar position by the rest of 
the Arab and Muslim leaders.  This is no time to 
waiver; it is time to make a principled stand against 
terrorism falsely carried out in the name of 
religion." 
 
           Editorial Commentary on Terrorism 
 
-- "The decapitators" 
 
Daily columnist Yaqoub Jaber writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(06/22):  "As if it was not enough for Al-Qaeda to 
defame the image of the tolerant Islam with its 
attacks against the United States and a number of 
Asian and European cities.  They have created a new 
disgusting way of dealing with their victims, namely 
beheading them, thus instigating the largest level of 
hatred possible against Muslims..  The painful result 
of this provocation is the infliction of more offense 
against Islam and Muslim, and it is a result that the 
Zionists will surely use to justify their crimes in 
Palestine..  We in the Muslim world, who are riddled 
with the likes of these terrorists, must differentiate 
between the regular citizen of a western country, 
which supports Israel and occupies Iraq, and that 
citizen's government.  There are millions of Americans 
who do not approve of their policies of their 
government and are sympathetic with the Palestinian 
cause and who oppose the occupation of Iraq.  An 
important part of our battle with our enemies is 
dependent on winning public opinion in western 
countries, and that definitely cannot be achieved by 
beheading innocent citizens who find themselves in our 
countries." 
 
-- "Prospering terrorism in Bush's era" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(06/21):  "After the attacks of 9/11, U.S. President 
Bush declared a war against terrorism and sent his 
troops to Afghanistan and then to Iraq.  So did Bush's 
war succeed?  Did it achieve its declared objectives? 
Probably the opposite is correct.  Local and 
international terrorism prospered in the Bush era and 
the world has become a less safe place, because Al- 
Qaeda is now bigger and stronger that ever before. 
Afghanistan has become a stage for warlords, the 
production and export of drugs and oppression of 
women....  Iraq, after the American occupation, has 
become a stage for terrorists of all sorts and the 
Iraqi people lost their security without gaining any 
democracy....  The terrorist activity in Saudi Arabia, 
which, before the Bush wars, used to express itself 
once every couple of years is now expressing itself on 
daily basis....  Pakistan, which was a stable and 
secure state, is now, thanks to the U.S. policy, a 
stage for local terrorism....  Europe did not go 
unscathed by these terrorist operations....  America's 
policies and measures did not eliminate terrorism. 
They rather contributed to its prosperity by, for 
instance: describing the war on terrorism as a 
crusade; bypassing international law and legitimacy; 
killing civilians in numbers that are much higher than 
the number of victims of the 9/11 attacks; overlooking 
Israel's terrorism against the Palestinian people; the 
principle of the pre-emptive war; arrogance in dealing 
even with the allies; the maltreatment of prisoners; 
the abrupt intervention in other countries' internal 
affairs; and the imperial ambition of trying to 
dominate the world." 
 
-- "Madness faced with madness!" 
 
Daily columnist Yaser Za'atreh writes on the op-ed 
page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al- 
Dustour (06/21):  "I start by saying that I am 
providing an explanation and not a justification.  Our 
stand vis--vis violence that harms the security of 
Arab and Muslim countries is very clear....  This 
phenomenon however requires an explanation....  This 
is a prelude for the story of the beheading of the 
first American hostage in Iraq and the second one in 
Saudi Arabia.  These are two events that were marked 
by extended media coverage and large-scale 
condemnation in the Arab world....  It is madness 
without a doubt.  Yet, let us wonder which is more 
ugly: the killing and dismemberment of tens of 
innocent people at a wedding in a city in Iraq or the 
beheading of two hostages?  What is the difference 
between the killing of two hostages by beheading and 
the killing of the residents of a building in Gaza for 
the purpose of assassinating the martyr Salah 
Shihadeh?  Which is more ugly: the beheading of two 
hostages or the killing of more than twenty people in 
the city of Fallujah on the pretext of pursuing 
terrorists?  Which is more ugly: the beheading of two 
hostages or the releasing of viscous dogs against 
prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison?  It is ugliness that 
provokes the same ugliness....  It is madness that 
provokes madness.  What the United States is doing 
with Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine is the 
humiliation beyond which lies more, particularly when 
it comes to a nation founded on dignity and pride.... 
We said that we are explaining and not justifying, 
because those who are doing this are not looking for 
justifications.  They have already gone past that and 
are now implementing.  Unfortunately, they did not 
retaliate well, because there is a huge difference 
between retaliations that serve the enemy's objectives 
and those that hit it where it hurts." 
GNEHM