US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT597

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000597 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS), NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY), NEA/P 
(FFINVER), INR/R/MR 
 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH 
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, MU, Public Affairs 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SETTLEMENT EXPANSION IN PALESTINE, HATE 
GROUPS IN AMERICA, AND REFORMING THE ARAB WORLD 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
International Mediator, Mediate! 
-------------------------------- 
 
1. On April 7, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" carried 
an editorial entitled, "Sharon's Projects to Where?" 
 
"Despite the Palestinian leadership's insistence that Sharon 
withdraw from the Gaza strip, it appears that he will once again 
ignore their requests and go against his previously conciliatory 
statements by expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  If 
the Bush administration were to demand that the roadmap be 
implemented, it would force Sharon to give up his plans to expand 
the settlements...  If Bush really wants peace between Israel and 
Palestine, he will stress to Sharon that the U.S. will not allow 
Israel to continue building settlements in the West Bank." 
 
------------------------------ 
Terrorism: Where Is Our Focus? 
------------------------------- 
 
2. On April 9, the privately-owned Arabic daily "al-Watan" 
carried an editorial entitled "The American Usama": 
 
"Since September 11, the American security community has closely 
watched Arabs and Muslims in the United States and worldwide out 
of a fear that they may be affiliated with al-Qaida or Usama Bin 
Laden.  They forget that in America there are over 760 hate 
groups that promote violent forms of racism.  The American 
security services are not concerned with these groups that are 
known to have illegal weapons and regularly carry out crimes 
against humanity.  The events of September 11 have distracted 
American policemen and the FBI from their own homegrown 
terrorists, so they target Arabs and Muslims.  It is wise to keep 
track of Usama's followers inside of the U.S., but it is foolish 
to ignore the millions of potential homegrown Usamas that live 
throughout the United States and carry arms of all kinds, 
including the kinds of biological and chemical weapons that have 
yet to be found in Iraq." 
 
----------------------------- 
Arab Nations Reform Decisions 
----------------------------- 
 
3. The privately-owned Arabic daily "al-Watan" published an 
editorial on April 10 entitled, "What they want from the Arabs": 
 
"It is crystal clear that America aims to protect Israel from all 
harm.  To do this, it has changed its policy toward Arab nations. 
The new policy is to make war on, embarrass, and humiliate Arab 
countries that do not reform in the ways that it wants them to. 
Given this situation, Arab nations have only two options: 
willingly adhere to America's demands, or resist change and face 
its might." 
 
STEWART