US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1705

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001705 
 
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 WAR ON IRAQ 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Jordanian papers published today, March 21, are 
dominated by reports on the war with Iraq.  Wire 
service reports highlight the bombing of Baghdad and 
President Saddam Hussein's televised speech to the 
Iraqi people.  All papers also highlight King 
Abdullah's meeting with the State Security Council, 
during which he expressed concern for the welfare of 
the Iraqi people and pledged Jordanian humanitarian 
support, stressing Jordan's support for Iraq's 
territorial unity.  Another lead story highlights 
Jordan's official denial of earlier reports quoting 
Iraqi sources that the Iraqis thwarted an American 
military attack across the Jordanian-Iraqi border. 
Also, the Minister of Information declared the eastern 
part of the Kingdom a closed military area that 
requires an official permit to enter.  Other lead 
stories include reports of the anti-war demonstrations 
that took place in various areas in Jordan. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The American aggression against Iraq and the end 
of the world order" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(03/21):  "The American missiles launched by U.S. 
President George Bush against Iraq do not suggest 
changing the Iraqi regime only, but also changing the 
world order, that has prevailed and guaranteed 
relative peace in the world for five decades..  The 
U.S. administration chose to leave the world order, to 
bash international law and international legitimacy, 
to take the world back to the law of survival of the 
fittest, simply by ignoring the United Nations and the 
Security Council, and to launch an aggressive attack 
against Iraq in contradiction of the simplest rules of 
international law..  As of now, world countries must 
realize that they no longer live under the umbrella of 
international law, but under the law of power and the 
rule of the jungle.  Therefore, their national 
security is gone;   Israel, for example,  may attempt 
some blatantly stupid actions such as invading 
Palestinian territories, expelling the people, 
attacking Syria and Lebanon, and carrying out other 
actions of aggression, which we had believed that the 
world would not allow." 
 
-- "The Arabs must be active in the post-Saddam era" 
 
Former Jordanian Minister of Information Saleh Qallab 
writes on the op-ed page of semi-official, influential 
Arabic daily Al-Rai (03/21):  "This is exactly what 
was expected.  The Iraqi crisis reached the finish 
line.  The need to violently undo the knot that could 
have been undone peacefully has become the only 
option.  The worst of the matter is that the defense 
policy that the Arabs have adopted put them where they 
are today: a major Arab country is facing an unknown 
fate and they are incapable of doing anything..  The 
Iraqi President may have or may have not realized that 
the Security Council's battles and the confrontation 
between the United States and its allies on one hand 
and France and its supporters on the other had nothing 
to do with Iraq or with international legitimacy. 
Rather they were the outcome of conflicting interests 
for the purpose of creating another world power that 
balances the United States.  Saddam Hussein's mistake 
was that instead of taking his already targeted 
country away from these world conflicts, he placed 
Iraq right in the middle of the storm and turned it 
into a battlefield for the conflicting parties.  The 
outcome is that the United States, which would not 
have the single superpower formula altered, turned its 
back to all and moved towards war.  What happened has 
happened and matters are where they are now.  The 
question is what can the Arabs do?  It is not 
permissible for the future of a brotherly Arab 
country, of such a size and such an importance, to be 
decided in the absence of the Arab viewpoint." 
 
-- "A war crime" 
 
Columnist Ibrahim Absi writes on the back page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/21):  "Had the world been free, moral and 
concerned for people's rights to life, freedom, 
security, peace, justice and democracy, and were it 
not subject to American threats and bribes, it would 
have declared a decisive stand against the criminal 
war being perpetrated by the U.S. administration 
against Iraq and the Iraqi people, and it would have 
declared its rebellion against the American tyranny 
that surpassed all levels..  The new American crime 
represented by this crazy war being perpetrated by the 
U.S and British administration against the Iraqi 
people is the dirtiest and bloodiest and deserves the 
name `the mother of all crimes'." 
 
-- "Invading the world" 
 
Columnist Yaqoub Jaber writes on the op-ed page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/21):  "The invasion of Iraq by the United States 
is nothing but part of a wide-scale invasion to 
control the world.  The plan to invade Iraq is not a 
direct outcome of the September 11 attacks, but rather 
an old plan put in place by the hawks of the current 
U.S. administration before they came to power..  The 
United States controls most of the oil routes and now 
seeks to control what left of these routes under the 
pretext of combating terrorism.  Invading Iraqi is 
nothing but part of this hellish scheme, which must be 
resisted via a coalition including Europe, China, 
Russia and all countries keen to protect their 
independence and dignity." 
GNEHM