US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI1356

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001356 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: WAR WITH IRAQ 
 
1.  SUMMARY: THE WAR AGAINST IRAQ CONTINUES TO DOMINATE COVERAGE 
IN UAE PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA.  EDITORIALS VOICE OFFICIAL AND 
PUBLIC CONCERN FOR THE SUFFERING OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE.  AN "AL- 
KHALEEJ' EDITORIAL NOTES THAT THE WAR SYMBOLIZES A DEFEAT FOR 
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND HUMANITY AS A WHOLE.  LIKEWISE, AN "AL- 
BAYAN" EDITORIAL CLAIMS THAT THE WAR REPRESENTS A DEATH 
CERTIFICATE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS.  FINALLY, AN "AL-ITTIHAD" 
EDITORIAL SAYS THAT THE WAR WILL NOT STOP AS LONG AS THERE ARE 
INDIVIDUALS IN THE IRAQI REGIME YEARNING ONLY FOR POWER AND BLIND 
TO THE SUFFERING OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  SEMI-OFFICIAL ABU DHABI-BASED ARABIC DAILY "AL-ITTIHAD" 
EDITORIALIZED ON 3/21: 
 
"... WHAT HAPPENED IS A CATASTROPHE ABOUT WHICH WE HAVE ALWAYS 
WARNED, CALLED TO AVOID, AND URGED EFFORTS TO AVERT.  HOWEVER, 
THE RELUCTANCE OF SOME AND THE AGITATION OF OTHERS AT THE 
SECURITY COUNCIL, AND THE SHARP SPLIT IN DEALING WITH DANGEROUS 
ISSUES SUCH AS IRAQ HAVE INCREASED THE TONE OF THE CHALLENGE ... 
THUS INCREASING THE SUFFERINGS, HUNGER, AND THIRST OF THE 
BROTHERLY IRAQI PEOPLE, FORCED TO LIVE THROUGH THIS THIRD 
CATASTROPHIC ADVENTURE IN LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY ... 
THE WAR HAS STARTED, WILL NOT STOP, AND WILL REMAIN SO AS LONG AS 
THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS (IRAQI REGIME) WHOSE DESIRE FOR POWER HAS 
BLACKED OUT THEIR EYES FROM SEEING THE SUFFERING OF THEIR OWN 
PEOPLE ..." 
 
3.  UNDER THE HEADLINE "A DEFEAT OF HUMANITY", SHARJAH-BASED PAN- 
ARAB DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" EDITORIALIZED 3/21: 
 
"... BY THE STANDARDS OF MOST OF THE WORLD'S NATIONS, LARGE AND 
SMALL, AND AS MILLIONS VOICED THEIR CONCERNS IN TENS OF CITIES, 
THIS WAR HAS BEEN DICTATED.  IT IS ILLEGAL AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY 
LEGAL JUSTIFICATION.  IT IS A SPECIAL WAR LAUNCHED BY THE U.S. TO 
ACHIEVE ITS GLOBAL OBJECTIVES OF CONTROL AND HEGEMONY, WHICH IN 
OUR PART OF THE WORLD, MEET WITH THOSE OF INTERNATIONAL ZIONISM 
... EVERY BULLET FIRED AT IRAQ CARRIES DEATH FOR ITS CIVILIANS. 
HOW IS THE SITUATION THEN WHEN THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION HAS 
BEEN PROMISING IRAQIS WITH THOUSANDS OF MUNITIONS INCLUDING SMART 
BOMBS, THE MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS, THE ELECTROMAGNETIC BOMBS, AND 
EVEN STRATEGIC NUCLEAR BOMB?  THE WAR HAS STARTED AND IT IS A 
DREADFUL DEFEAT FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW AND HUMANITY AS A WHOLE." 
 
4.  DUBAI-BASED BUSINESS-ORIENTED ARABIC DAILY "AL-BAYAN" 
EDITORIALIZED ON 3/21: 
 
"... THE MOST DANGEROUS ELEMENT IN THE AMERICAN AGGRESSION 
AGAINST BROTHERLY IRAQ IS THE LACK OF RESPECT FOR INTERNATIONAL 
LAW.  IN FACT, AMERICA HAS ABANDONED ALL INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND 
CHARTERS, AND THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS COME UNDER ITS CONTROL.  WE DO 
NOT EXAGGERATE IF WE SAY THAT WHAT AMERICA DID YESTERDAY WAS A 
DEATH CERTIFICATE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS SEALED WITH AN AMERICAN 
STAMP ... THE WORLD IS IN CHAOS, AND FOR US, ARABS, IT WAS A SAD 
DAY, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, ONE OF THOSE BLACK DAYS THAT WE ADD 
TO OUR HISTORY RECORDS.  WE REMAIN AT A STANDSTILL, DISABLED, 
YIELDING AS IF WE ARE SATISFIED WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING." 
 
PUBLIC OPINION READ-OUT 
 
5.  A GENERAL MOOD OF CONCERN AND ANGER CONTINUES TO PREVAIL 
AMONG MOST EMIRATIS AND LOCAL ARABS.  CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS 
CONTINUE TO VOICE THEIR DEEP CONCERN FOR THE SITUATION.  ONE 
CONTACT ASKED:  "DO YOU THINK SUCH A WAR WILL BRING DEMOCRACY TO 
THE ARAB WORLD?  NO.  ALL IT BRINGS IS MORE HUMILIATION AND 
DEFEAT FOR THE ARABS, MAINLY THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS, WHO KEEP 
WONDERING ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING WHEN ADULTS FIND IT DIFFICULT 
TO EXPLAIN THE SITUATION TO THEM.  HOW WOULD WE EXPLAIN THE 
SURRENDER OF IRAQI SOLDIERS?  IT IS ALL DISGRACEFUL." 
ALL CONTACTS REMAIN VERY WORRIED ABOUT "THE IRAQI PEOPLE, WHO 
HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND CANNOT BEAR FURTHER TRAGEDIES." 
 
WAHBA