US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1849

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001849 
 
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 IN IRAQ 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Banner headlines in all papers today, March 27, 
highlight various developments in the war on Iraq. 
Lead reports focus on the bombing of a marketplace in 
Baghdad and continued battles in the south of Iraq. 
Other major stories highlight remarks by the Iraqi 
Ambassador to Jordan clarifying that the diplomatic 
tiff with Jordan was merely a "tempest in a teacup" 
and that relations between Iraq and Jordan are normal. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "A bloody escalation of the war on Iraq" 
 
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/27) editorializes:  "The United States and Britain 
escalated their brutal aggression against brotherly 
Iraq and the war operations launched by these two 
allies took a serious destructive and bloody turn when 
missile attacks and air raids started to target 
civilian areas and civilian infrastructure that 
claimed the lives of many..  The world watches with 
shock and awe the field developments of the American 
war on Iraq.  On one hand, the world admires the 
honorable resistance of the Iraqi people and their 
armed forces.  On the other hand, the world is worried 
and pained by these horrific attacks against the 
Iraqis and by Washington and London's insistence to 
turn their backs to all calls for stopping this bloody 
episode and for listening to the voice of reason and 
logic." 
 
-- "The fate of the Arab world at the breakfast table 
of Richard Perle" 
 
Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/27):  "Fools who believe that the United States 
wants to liberate the Iraqi people and the prosperity 
of democracy must realize what lies behind the scenes 
of the American decision-making industry, what exists 
at the depth of George Bush's remarks and the trail of 
the U.S. administration's lies.  Last Sunday, Richard 
Perle hosed a seminar over breakfast to discuss the 
future of the Middle East in the post-war era.  The 
outcome was, according to Perle, the need to `reform 
the United Nations', namely to turn it into a tool in 
the hands of Washington, the need for a regime change 
in Syria and Iran, and the need to contain France and 
Germany..  Perle is one of those in the small circle 
of oil traders and American owners of military 
industries, and he is a supporter of the Likud party 
and of those who stand for Israeli interests in the 
White House and who control American decisions.. 
Shame on us, as an Arab nation, to allow a group of 
Zionists in the White House to determine the future of 
the Arab world at breakfast tables in Washington." 
 
-- "The freedom of killing Iraqis" 
 
Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(03/27):  "The Bush-Blair war can be called anything 
but a liberation of the Iraqis..  What freedom is this 
that carries within it unspeakable atrocities, and 
what freedom is this where more than 74 billion 
dollars are going to be spent on weapons to kill 
Iraqis and destroy their cities?  A good description 
of this war is a war of lies.  President Bush and 
Blair believe that by lying they can deceive all the 
people all the time.  But this is impossible.  The 
smiles that the American president gives to reporters 
before the White House cannot cover up the crime 
series that has started to unfold in Baghdad, Basra, 
Nasiriya, Babel and Najaf.  I felt bad yesterday when 
I saw the cheers and applause with which the American 
President was received as he was promising the Iraqi 
people a long war that would not stop until the head 
of Saddam Hussein rolls.  I felt bad because the 
scenes of the dead people in Hyy al-Sha'b in Baghdad 
revealed all about the truth of the `freedom' that 
Bush is promising the Iraqi people via missiles and 
bombs..  The Bush-Blair war can be described as 
illegitimate, criminal, colonialist, brutal, but not 
as a war for freedom, unless the freedom to kill 
Iraqis is meant." 
 
-- "For the oil" 
 
Daily columnist Mohammad Amayreh writes on the op-ed 
page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(03/27):  "The U.S. administration portrays its 
aggression against Iraq as a war of liberation aimed 
at ousting the standing regime, destroying weapons of 
mass destruction, establishing a democratic regime, 
and bringing security and stability to Iraq.  These 
justifications, however, are acceptable only to those 
who follow the Americans..  U.S. and British officials 
are presenting themselves as the liberators, ones with 
a humanitarian mission and a democratic purpose who 
sympathize with the Iraqi people and are concerned for 
their interests.  Yet, we look at their actions and we 
see the contradiction..  If the Americans and the 
British came to liberate the people of Iraq and 
thought that this people will receive them with 
welcoming cheers and flowers, then look at the first 
seven days of the war, which prove otherwise." 
 
-- "A year of justifying the war" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(03/27):  "It took America more than one year to 
justify launching a war on Iraq.  There were so many 
justifications that the American people became 
confused and did not know why America must resort to a 
war that is said to be the last option..  President 
Bush's problem lies in his failure to convince the 
Americans and the world because the justifications 
given were either not true or true but not new..  This 
pushed many to look for the real reasons for the war, 
finding only the desire to control Iraq's oil and to 
serve Israel..  Additional justifications surfaced 
claiming that changing the regime in Iraq would open 
the door for core changes in the region, including 
allowing peace to be established with Israel, which 
would be upon Israel's conditions, and spreading 
democracy in the Arab world, which is ridiculous 
because democracy cannot be imposed from outside." 
GNEHM