US embassy cable - 02AMMAN5168

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2007 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SOCI, XF, JO 
SUBJECT: SEPTEMBER 11 ONE YEAR LATER IN JORDAN: SYMPATHY 
STILL, BUT DISAPPOINTMENT OVER "LESSONS NOT LEARNED" AND 
ANXIETY OVER THE FUTURE 
 
 
Classified By: CDA Gregory L. Berry.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) A year after 9/11, many Jordanians still make a point 
of expressing sympathy for the victims of the attacks and 
condemnation for those who carried them out.  That said, many 
also quickly add that the U.S. "failed to learn the lessons 
of September 11" and has yet to address the perceived "root 
causes" behind the acts -- i.e. America's "unbalanced" 
approach in the region.  While the local press in recent days 
has been full of stories marking the 9/11 attacks, most 
Jordanians are more focused on -- and more anxious about -- 
the anticipated consequences for Jordan of U.S. military 
action against Iraq.  End Summary. 
 
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On A Human Level, Sympathy 
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2. (C) September 11 shocked Jordanians, like others around 
the world, by its brutality and the scale of devastation it 
wrought.  A year later, many of our contacts still make a 
point of expressing sympathy for the victims and condemnation 
for the perpetrators.  Former parliamentarian Ra'ad Bakri 
told us "September 11 is a black day.  Those who did it are 
as far from Islam as possible.  Jordanians stand 100 percent 
with Americans on this sad day."  Similarly, journalist Nadia 
Aloul told us "we don't need an anniversary to remind us of 
September 11 as we have been living it every day." 
Conversations with other contacts and with ordinary 
Jordanians in casual interaction show a similar perception -- 
September 11 was a tremendous human tragedy and an act 
against Islam. (Note: at this point, the argument generally 
turns in one of two directions: either al-Qaeda's world view 
is a deeply warped interpretation of Islam, or Muslims could 
not have carried out such an act and someone else was 
responsible.  End Note).  Thus, in the human context, 
Jordanians feel genuine sympathy for America on this 
anniversary. 
 
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Looking Back: America Did Not Learn Its Lessons 
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3. (C) That said, Jordanians continue to view September 11 
primarily through the prism of their own immediate concerns. 
They listen to our counter-arguments patiently, but are 
likely simply to brush them off.  For many of them, September 
11 was a consequence of the U.S.'s flawed policies in the 
region, a relationship the U.S. didn't understand then and 
still doesn't understand now.  Former Parliamentarian Mahmoud 
Kharabsheh made this point to the A/DCM recently, arguing 
that "rational, reasonable Arabs don't support what happened 
on 9/11.  But they believe that the reasons given by al-Qaeda 
are valid bases to oppose U.S. policy."  In a September 8 
editorial, the English language, government-affiliated, 
Jordan Times expressed a related idea: "The last year would 
have been well spent had the U.S. and the international 
community done more thinking and soul-searching on the root 
causes of terrorism."  And another Embassy contact echoed the 
same sentiment recently, noting: "people here feel that 9/11 
was an historic opportunity for the U.S. to improve its 
negative image in the Arab world, but the U.S. failed to 
review its policies."  Most here perceive that the U.S. has 
not addressed "the root causes" of the region's tensions and 
that it has acquiesced in the face of the IDF's ever more 
brutal tactics for suppressing the Intifada.  They still feel 
strongly that it is a mistake to equate "legitimate 
Palestinian martyrdom operations" with 9/11.  All of these 
factors combined have left many here (who are otherwise 
sympathetic to what befell America a year ago) with a bitter 
taste. 
 
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Looking Ahead: Iraq is the Main Concern Now 
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4. (C) Over the past week, the local press has devoted 
considerable space to stories and editorials marking the 
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  As a result, public 
consciousness of, and discussion about, 9/11 has risen.  That 
said, most Jordanians' primary concern is focused at home -- 
not on what happened in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania 
a year ago, but rather, on what they fear will happen to 
Jordan and the region in the months ahead.  Growing anxiety 
about the anticipated consequences for Jordan of possible 
U.S. military action against Iraq looms ever larger. For many 
ordinary people, America's "failure to learn the lessons of 
9/11 and address the root causes" is part of a continuing 
dynamic leading the region toward an uncertain and 
anxiety-filled future. 
BERRY