US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1973

UNCLAS AMMAN 001973 
 
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 
 
-- Lead stories in all papers today, April 2, continue 
to focus on the developments in the war in Iraq. 
Banner headlines highlight the civilian death toll in 
Iraq.  Al-Dustour, Al-Arab Al-Yawm and the Jordan 
Times carry a similar photo of a man crying and 
shouting as the bodies of three small children are 
placed in a coffin in front of him.  All papers also 
highlight King Abdullah's meeting with his cabinet, 
during which he expressed reassurance about the 
Jordanian government's measures to protect Jordanians' 
safety and express concern for the rising number of 
civilian casualties among the Iraqi people.  Papers 
also refer to the letter sent by U.S. Ambassador to 
Jordan, Edward Gnehm, to the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, offering his condolences for the death of 
five Jordanians killed in Iraq. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Jews, Zionists, and the title is occupation" 
 
Chief Editor Taher Udwan concludes his article on the 
back page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al- 
Arab Al-Yawm (04/02):  "For us Arabs, we view what is 
happening as yet another image of the invaders who 
crossed our lands in barbaric wars (whether holy or 
unholy wars).  We realize that the invaders may 
eventually succeed, with the massive force they have, 
in entering the cities of Iraq, the Arab country that 
is standing alone without the support of any of its 
brothers.  We realize that the occupation may succeed 
in occupying all of Iraq.  However, they will fail, 
from day one, to be of an image other than that of 
occupiers, invaders, opportunists and criminals.  This 
alone is sufficient to keep the resistance going even 
for the next one hundred years." 
 
-- "The American crisis" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(04/02):  "In the first week of the Anglo-American 
aggression against Iraq, focus was directed to 
military and leadership targets, in an efforts to 
convince the Iraqi people that the Americans and the 
English are launching their war against the regime and 
not the people.  They had expected that the Iraqi 
people would view them as liberators rather than 
occupiers.  Within the first week of launching the 
aggression, the American leadership became convinced 
that this vision does not exist, because the fierce 
Iraqi resistance faced by the invading forces was not 
only regular forces, but also included popular 
organizations.  The Iraqi people, with all its 
sectors, rose in defense of his homeland..  As of the 
second week of the war, the American plans shifted and 
changed.  They acknowledged that the forces are not 
enough . and most importantly they shifted from 
targeting the regime's institutions to striking 
popular markets and residential areas, in a clear 
attempt to avenge themselves against the Iraqi people. 
The Iraqis in 1991 were not completely convinced of 
the need to fight and sacrifice to keep Kuwait, as 
they were faced with the Arab and international public 
opinion and the thirty-country alliance supported by 
Arab and international communities.  It really felt 
like a war to liberate Kuwait.  However, in 2003, the 
picture is different.  The Iraqis are defending their 
homeland against invaders and aggressors, whose 
intentions and objectives are as clear as day, and 
whose movements and plans are rejected both on the 
Arab and on the international levels." 
GNEHM