US embassy cable - 04AMMAN7400

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007400 
 
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 U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS, 
RUSSIA, LEBANON 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, September 7, 
focuses on the "Israeli massacre" in Gaza, wherein the 
Israeli military reportedly bombed a summer camp of 
alleged Hamas followers.  Front-page reports continue 
to highlight developments in Iraq. 
 
      Editorial Commentary on U.S.-Arab Relations 
 
-- "America's information about the Arab world" 
 
Columnist Yaqoub Jaber writes on the op-ed page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(09/07):  "In an interview with the New York Times, 
U.S. President George Bush admitted that he did not 
plan well for Iraq's management after the invasion. 
This acknowledgement is proof of the lack of 
information that the U.S. administration and its 
intelligence apparatus had about the situation in Iraq 
and its ethnic and sectarian complexity..  We tend to 
believe that this American ignorance applies to the 
entire Arab world, with which America is dealing on 
the basis that the region's support is evident in the 
lack of popular protest and so long as Arab leaders 
dare not criticize American policies.  This American 
ignorance of the status of the Arab world leads to one 
major question: where does the United States get its 
information about the Arab world and how are important 
decisions regarding the U.S. policy in the Middle East 
being adopted?  We have no doubt that Israel, its 
allies and its operatives in influential American 
institutions are the ones that are passing the wrong 
information about the status of the Arab world. 
Israel makes a point of not including  even a simple 
sign in this information about its role in inflaming 
feelings of hatred against the United States and its 
policy of aiding Israel's aggression against the 
Palestinian people.  That is why sometimes, the United 
States acts foolishly when handling pivotal issues 
such as the Palestinian issue and the aggression 
against Iraq." 
 
-- "A long-term struggle of ideology" 
 
Daily columnist Yaser Za'atreh writes on the op-ed 
page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al- 
Dustour (09/07):  "In his interview with the Time 
Magazine when he arrogantly said that he is the one 
who is making history, President Bush described the 
war launched by the United States against so-called 
terrorism as a long-term struggle of ideology.  In 
previous remarks, the President had described it as a 
"crusade" and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld described 
it as a war of ideas.  What we can conclude from all 
this, without unfairness to the President or his 
aides, but in light of the behavior of the President 
and the neo-conservatives in the U.S. administration, 
is that these people have found a real problem, namely 
Islam..  What is happening on the ground, in terms of 
media campaigns, pressure to change the curricula, 
pursuing charity organizations, talk of a larger 
Middle East, only indicates one thing: Islam as a 
religion is now targeted..  It is a long-term war of 
ideology, one that must be waged with consciousness, 
not only by the people in this nation, but also by the 
regimes, who would be mistaken if they align 
themselves with this war on the pretext of fighting 
terrorism.  It is a situation that will yield more 
domestic problems, particularly when Islam is not a 
passing ideology of this nation, but the main 
component of its culture, not to mention the fact that 
many are going back to religion because they feel that 
the United States and its Zionist allies are targeting 
it." 
 
            Editorial Commentary on Russia 
 
-- "The lesson from a tragic event" 
 
Daily columnist Mahmoud Rimawi writes on the op-ed 
page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(09/07):  "The tragedy to which the hostage-taking 
situation in the south of Russia ended regrettably 
shows that many mistakes are being made in the 
handling of the phenomenon of terrorism, in the sense 
that force, and excessive force at that, is being 
resorted to, which in turn threatens the lives of 
innocent people on a massive scale..  Instead of being 
sensitive to criticisms, it would be better for the 
Russian authorities to admit that they made serious 
mistakes, going beyond that to the need to find a 
political solution to the Chechens issue, which is an 
issue being used by some extremists to perpetrate 
abhorring actions..  In all circumstances, the 
requirement is to solve problems of a nationalistic 
and historical nature, rather than resorting to short- 
term solutions that only lead to more problems." 
 
-- "The crime of killing children" 
 
Columnist Bassam Umoush, an Islamist, views Islam's 
specific position against the killing of children and 
writes on the op-ed page of semi-official, influential 
Arabic daily Al-Rai (09/07):  "The crime of the Beslan 
school is completely rejected by the Islamic Sharia 
and all others, and is only acceptable by the rule of 
the jungle, the Nazis, the Zionists or warlords. 
Those who commit such acts have nothing to do with 
Jihad, because the battles of Jihad are clear and 
honorable.  We are the first to denounce the principle 
that the end justifies the means.  Those who killed 
the children in that school are the kidnappers and, 
with them, the Kremlin that proves its failure in 
handling crises, thus leading to the death of hundreds 
of victims of a crooked policy." 
 
            Editorial Commentary on Lebanon 
 
-- "Internationalizing the Lebanese presidency" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(09/07):  "The French-American decision that was 
approved by the Security Council with regard to 
Lebanon has two aims.  The first is French designed to 
safeguard Lebanon's interest and sovereignty, and the 
second is American designed to defy Syria and prepare 
for the imposition of international sanctions.  It is 
difficult to protest against the content and the text 
of the international decision; after all, who could 
stand against Lebanon's sovereignty and respect for 
its constitution..  The protest is therefore against 
the hidden intentions that lie behind such a decision, 
namely targeting Syria, be it through a direct Israeli 
aggression or an American siege similar to the one 
imposed on Iraq after 1990.  The protest is also 
against the double standard.  If foreign occupation is 
rejected, why the decision not ask Israel to withdraw 
from the Golan Heights and the rest of the land it 
occupied in 1967..  If the Syrian military presence in 
Lebanon is illegitimate, then why is the American 
military presence in Iraq legitimate, given that the 
Syrian forces went into Lebanon pursuant to an 
agreement, while America imposed itself on Iraq by 
force?  Syria has always acted wisely and carefully so 
as not to give its enemies any pretexts for attacking 
it, but it has, for some reason, made it easy for 
these enemies when it pressured so clearly for 
renewing the presidency of the Lebanese president and 
amending the constitution.  President Bush needed such 
a conduct on Syria's part in order to be able to pass 
an international decision calling for Syria's 
withdrawal from Lebanon, just as his father passed a 
similar decision calling for the Iraqi army's 
withdrawal from Kuwait." 
HALE