US embassy cable - 04AMMAN7732

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, KISL, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN MEDIA: 9/11 EDITORIALS TURN ANGRY 
 
REF: AMMAN 7571 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Opinion columns published around the 9/11 
anniversary in Jordan reflected a depressed and angry tone, 
with many writers railing against a U.S. response to the 
attacks they claim has undermined global security.  One 
writer said the time for sympathy with America was over, and 
accused Arab satellite networks of serving the U.S. agenda by 
continuing to offer sympathetic portrayals of the families of 
9/11 victims.  A recurrent theme was despair of a 
"new-conservative takeover" of the U.S. Government in the 
wake of the attacks that adopted Israel's interests as 
paramount in the response to 9/11.  A number of articles 
raised doubts about Al-Qaeda responsibility for the attacks 
reflecting a persistent, if perhaps minority, view among the 
public.  Finally, a relatively few writers bucked these 
trends, offering introspection and lamenting both the 
conditions in the Arab world that give rise to terrorism and 
a continued failure by both East and West to solve root 
causes.  End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) In our third 9/11 anniversary at this post, we have 
seen a steadily deteriorating response on editorial pages to 
the occasion, from sympathy mixed with apprehension (2002); 
to shock, disillusion and despair in the wake of the Iraq War 
(2003); to this year's mix of a more robust anger and heavy 
cynicism about U.S. motives in the region.  There is a 
feeling reflected of international security coming unhinged, 
with the U.S. embarked on a military-dominated agenda in 
which no corner of the Arab world is safe.  Of course, these 
are the views of Jordanian editorialists and opinion writers 
with all their biases, contradictions and hyperbole well 
known. Yet, there does not seem to be a great distance 
between their rantings on these subjects and that of the 
public, which feels squeezed and powerless between conflicts 
surrounding Jordan in which the U.S. role is viewed extremely 
unfavorably.  What strikes us this year is the consistency 
and intensity of the anger directed at the U.S., with 
hostility towards Al Qaeda attackers and their aims fading 
steadily from most analyses. 
 
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America, Unleashed 
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3.  (U) Perhaps the dominant theme in this year's 9/11 navel 
gazing was that of a tethered pre-9/11 U.S. unleashed by the 
attacks to run amok on the world.  This view was generally 
conflated with the idea that the U.S. exploited the worldwide 
outpouring of sympathy that followed 9/11.  A sub-theme 
alleges that neo-conservatives and pro-Israeli religious 
elements seized control of the nation's post 9/11 foreign 
policy.  An example of the genre came in a 9/13 piece by 
Ghassan Muamar in the newly-launched "al Ghad": "There is a 
new reality at work wherein extremist religious trends in the 
United States, that are based on principles of extremism and 
exaggeration in the interpretation of the Christian belief 
and whose objectives match those of the Zionist state, have 
taken control of the White House, and have placed the 
importance of Israel's existence, survival and safety 
opposite that of mankind's safety and international 
security."  Also in "Al Ghad" on 9/11 came this piece from 
daily columnist Samih Al Ma'ayteh:  "The weeks that followed 
the attacks of September 11 brought to the U.S. much 
sympathy, even from Arabs and moderate Islamist movements who 
condemned the attacks.  But the U.S. was not concerned with 
this outpouring of sympathy...Under the pretext of fighting 
terror, the U.S. administration went berserk." 
 
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Doubt and Denial, Still on Tap 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U) Those who persist in the belief that the CIA or the 
Mossad or parties as yet unknown carried out the 9/11 attacks 
also had their say.  Mohammad Amayreh wrote in Al Dustoor on 
9/11:  "America has gone to excess in its vengefulness, 
assuming it had the right of revenge to start with, after it 
found or fabricated information that allowed it to blame 
Arabs and Muslims for the quake that shook it and the world." 
 In a particularly ugly, anti-Semitic screed, Khalil Sawahiri 
writes 9/13 in Al Dustoor:  "Since matters are judged by 
their results, the American September is without a doubt of 
American Jewish making and achieved its objectives on many 
levels, the most serious of which is the crime of changing 
(education) curricula away from its religious, humanitarian 
and civilizational bases, as well as instigating hatred 
against Islam and Muslims and turning them into outcasts 
wherever they go."  The same paper's 9/12 unsigned editorial 
continues the theme:  "What are the Arabs and Muslims guilty 
of when all the evidence showed that Osama Bin Laden and his 
organization were the creation of the American intelligence 
aparatus?..With all good intentions we wanted to be part of a 
world that rejects violence and condemns terrorism, a world 
where we mourn American victims and Americans mourn our 
victims.  But those who planned to take control of the world, 
to steal its oil and riches, and to put all the people under 
Israel's control knew that what happened was part of the 
plan." 
 
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Introspection and Root Causes 
----------------------------- 
 
5.  (SUB) A smaller number of writers offered introspection 
and a more pragmatic, if depressed, response to the 
anniversary.  Generally secular and liberal in outlook and 
relatively few in number, these voices have paradoxically 
been empowered by the September 11 attacks, able now to offer 
a secular liberal critique of the state of Arab society in 
much the same spirit of those behind the UN Arab Human 
Development Report(s).  Bater Wardam, a leader of this trend 
in Jordan, wrote 9/13 in Al Dustoor in response to those who 
continue to deny Al Qaeda responsibility for the 9/11 
attacks:  "It is time to grow up and find the courage to 
diagnose the bitter reality that we, ourselves, have created 
and from which our enemies are benefiting...the idea of 
raising photos of Bin Laden and considering him a hero is the 
expression of a huge malfunction in the Muslim mind that must 
be addressed."  Another writer asked readers to consider what 
would not have occurred but for 9/11:  "If the U.S. security 
agencies had been successful (in thwarting the attacks) would 
the world be much different than it is today?...America would 
not have invaded Iraq nor even Afghanistan, despite what is 
being said about the plans of the neo-conservatives.  Saddam 
Hussein would still be in his job, and so would Mullah Omar 
and Osama Bin Laden...We have to remember that it was the 
Arab world that stood against Colin Powell's plan of imposing 
'smart sanctions' against Iraq. 
 
6.  (U) A related theme was lamentation that the world had 
yet to come together to identify and address root causes for 
terrorism and the ongoing conflict.  The moderate, English 
language Jordan Times editorialized 9/13:  "The United States 
and the international community must dig deeper in search for 
the real reasons that prompt people to commit acts of 
terrorism.  Is it only economic deprivation or poverty that 
drive people to despair? Is it the denial of freedom and 
democracy? Or is it something else that has yet to be 
identified?"  Writing on 9/11, influential Palestinian writer 
Uraib Rintawi claimed to know the root causes and warned the 
U.S. of the consequences of its policies: "Washington knows 
full well that the end of its war on terror is still very far 
off.  What it has not seemed to learn is that its policies, 
which have only grown in arrogance and disregard for the just 
causes of Arabs and Muslims since September 11, sow more 
seeds of hatred and make greater areas fertile ground for 
Arab and Islamic enmity for Washington and its policies. 
Washington will not be able to curb Arab and Islamic enmity 
towards the United States as long as it continues to dismiss 
their just demands, particularly in Palestine." 
 
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Comment 
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7.  (SBU) With some exceptions, we see an overall 
deteriorating trend in the way 9/11 is viewed among the 
admittedly biased and cynical Jordanian editorial 
establishment.  This is not entirely surprising given the 
proximity of the continued conflict between Israelis and 
Palestinians and the war in Iraq, not to mention increased 
terrorism to the south in Saudi Arabia.  The world really 
does look worse for many Jordanians, and blaming U.S. foreign 
policy post 9/11 resonates.  For the time being, the U.S. 
military response continues to drown out our other 
initiatives, at least on the opinion pages, if not always on 
the ground. 
HALE