US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1215

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001215 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, PA, INR/NESA, 
IIP/G/NEA-SA, INR/B 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH, PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
CINCCENT FOR CCPA 
USDOC FOR 4520/ANESA/ONE/FITZGERALD-WILKS 
USDOC FOR ITA AND PTO/OLIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KU, KDMR 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION, APRIL 2: WAR IN IRAQ; ARAB 
MEDIA 
 
1.   SUMMARY: Commentators call for moderation of the 
Kuwaiti rhetoric denouncing other Arab states that has 
dominated opinion over the last week, appealing to feelings 
of Pan-Arabism. However, frustrations remain keen, with 
reports that the Kuwaiti government has decided not to fund 
the Al-Arabiya station to protest what they perceive as the 
channel's biased coverage of the war. One commentator 
laments: "Arabism is more a daily curse than a way of life." 
 
Support for the war remains high despite perceptions that 
the war is not going according to plan. One disillusioned 
commentator writes: "It is completely different from the war 
to liberate Iraq." Radical Islamist Mohammad al-Mulaifi 
outlines how US forces may be defeated in Baghdad after "the 
failure of the shock and awe campaign." In response to Iraqi 
regime promises of more suicide attacks, Kuwaiti Muslim 
scholars declare that defending the Baath regime is not 
Jihad, and that suicide bombers for the regime are not 
martyrs. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.   News Stories: Informed sources told Al-Qabas that 
Kuwait has decided not to provide funding for the Arabic 
satellite news channel Al-Arabiya to protest the channel's 
coverage of the war in Iraq. The UAE and Saudi Arabia, and 
Lebanese Prime Minister Al-Hariri currently fund Al-Arabiya. 
 
All newspapers report the Dean of the College of Sharia and 
Islamic Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Al-Tabtabaie's statement that, 
"Fighting for the Iraqi Baath Party is not Jihad." 
Secretary-General of the Shiite Scholars in Kuwait, Mohammed 
 
SIPDIS 
Baqer Al-Mahri, declares that suicide bombers defending 
Saddam Hussein and his regime are not martyrs, all 
newspapers report. 
 
Al-Qabas reports that Kuwaiti (Islamic) charity 
organizations are collecting donations for the Iraqi people 
to be administered under the Joint Kuwaiti Relief Committee, 
headed by Tareq Al-Essa, Chairman of the Kuwaiti Revival of 
Islamic Heritage Committee [The Afghan and Pakistani 
branches of the Committee were identified as providing 
financial support for terrorism in January 2003]. 
 
On March 31, all Arabic and English dailies carried 
extensive coverage of an Embassy-organized press briefing by 
USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) experts on 
humanitarian aid to Iraq. 
 
All newspapers front-page the attack by an Egyptian who 
drove a truck into a group of American soldiers outside Al- 
Udairi camp in Kuwait, injuring between 10-15 soldiers, on 
March 30. 
 
A water pipeline from Kuwait to Umm Qasr was inaugurated on 
March 30, all newspapers report. The pipeline will provide 
Iraqis with 2,700,000 liters of clean drinking water per 
day. 
 
All newspapers report Kuwait's expulsion of the Libyan 
Charge d'Affaires to protest the lack of serious action by 
the Libyan government following the attack on the Kuwaiti 
embassy in Tripoli. 
 
All newspapers report that on March 30 the Kuwaiti stock 
exchange reached its highest level since 1997. 
 
Editorials: 
 
3.  "Are the Arabs With Us or Against Us?" 
Liberal Kuwait University Political Science Professor, Dr. 
Ahmad Al-Baghdadi, wrote in independent Al-Seyassah (3/31): 
"Whether we like it or not, we will never belong to the 
Western world, either in intellectual or religious 
identification. Kuwaitis are Arabs. Yet, Arabism is more a 
daily curse than a way of life. Arabs are psychologically, 
militarily, culturally, and scientifically incapable of 
confronting Israel, therefore, they attack America. Arabs 
are also incapable of deterring America's just war against 
the criminal Iraqi regime, therefore, they attack Kuwait 
knowing fully that it is not the only country offering 
assistance to the United States. We would accept this [Arab 
position] if it was peaceful, because freedom of expression 
is a right. Yet, attacking our children and our institutions 
similar to what happened in Libya, Lebanon and Jordan is 
proof of Arab barbarianism that is incapable of 
civilization. We should call for the withdrawal of our 
Ambassadors, and the end of financial aid to any regime that 
aggresses against us." 
 
4.  Liberal Editor-in-Chief of Al-Qabas, Waleed Al-Nesf, 
wrote (4/1): "In these difficult times, voices are calling 
to suspend our diplomatic relations with and to ban 
financial assistance to some Arab nations. Kuwait's higher 
interests call for careful deliberation of any decision. We 
do not offer assistance to the needy in order to gain their 
political support. Our relations are based on the belief 
that we are an Arab country that belongs to the Arab Nation. 
We have to maintain our principles despite the psychological 
pressure [on us]." 
 
5.  "Not with America and Not Against Iraq" 
Jaber Al-Hajiri wrote in independent Al-Qabas (4/1): "The US 
and Kuwait's interests may be intertwined, but permanent 
[shared] interests with a superpower are not possible in 
today's world. Therefore, we should not fully throw our 
weight behind the US because we are not against Iraq as a 
nation or people, and we are also not with America with all 
its faces." 
 
6.  "Discrepancies Between the Allies" 
Conservative Dr. Sami Khalifa wrote in independent Al-Rai Al- 
Aam (3/30):  "[I]t appears that the British are more 
sensitive to the people in the region. British Prime 
Minister Blair adopted the `Road Map' plan at the same time 
as the start of the war. Moreover, the British MP [Jack] 
Straw admitted that the West practices double standards 
towards Iraq and Israel. These two examples indicate to us 
that Britain's way of dealing with the war. is different 
from the American way. It also proves that the US disregards 
the values of the people in the region where arrogance has 
become an American characteristic." 
 
7.  "Ahmad Saeed's Satellite Channel" 
[Ahmad Saeed is an Egyptian newscaster who announced during 
the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that Arab forces shot down 300 
Israeli fighter planes] 
Liberal, prominent lawyer Hassan Al-Essa wrote in 
independent Al-Qabas (4/2): "It was a wise decision by the 
Ministry of Information to give a warning to Al-Arabiya 
satellite channel. This satellite channel was established to 
compete with Al-Jazeera. and broadcasts radical statements 
about the war on Iraq. Such satellite channels are copies of 
Ahmad Saeed's microphone and reminds us of the illusions of 
victory during the 1967 war." 
 
8.  "The Worst-Case Scenario After the Failure of the `Shock 
and Awe' Campaign" 
Radical Islamist Mohammad Al-Mulaifi wrote in independent Al- 
Seyassah (4/2): "Two weeks after the war campaign on Iraq, 
one can conclude that the American military strategy has 
failed because Saddam's troops are still absorbing the 
strikes. In this situation, we will witness the worst-case 
scenario of fighting inside Baghdad. American forces may 
lose the battle for many reasons: 1) Iraqis in Baghdad know 
their land and environment very well; 2) the fighting in 
Baghdad will be measured by meters, not kilometers, and each 
meter may cost the life of soldiers; and 3) the American 
army may face a situation similar to what the Israelis faced 
in Lebanon, meaning suicide attacks on their troops." 
 
9.  "It is a Different War" 
Ahmad Al-Dayeen, former Secretary-General of the Kuwait 
Democratic Forum, wrote in independent Al-Rai Al-Aam (4/2): 
"It was supposed to be a swift war. but the war is going 
into its third week. It was supposed to avoid civilians, but 
they were the victims. The war was supposed to take into 
consideration the role of the opposition parties, but they 
have been totally ignored. A coup was expected by one of 
Saddam's aids, but this day never came. They called it `the 
freedom of Iraq' war, but the first thing they did was to 
raise the American flag in Umm Qasr. This war is a different 
war. It is completely different from the war to liberate 
Iraq." 
 
 
JONES