US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2128

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002128 
 
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 published April 7-8, 
focus on developments in the war in Iraq.  Front page 
reports highlight the "fierce" battles that took place 
around Baghdad yesterday.  Commentaries April 8 allege 
the "Zionism" of Jay Garner 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "A Zionist prepares to rule Iraq!" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(04/08):  "The chiefs of the U.S. administration have 
disagreed on how to skin the bear even before it was 
hunted.  The State Department believes that it should 
be the party concerned with ruling Iraq after 
occupying it and ousting its regime, while the Defense 
Department confirms it is the one for the task, and 
even went ahead and appointed one of the retired 
generals, Jay Garner, for that position.  So who is 
this Garner?  Garner was in charge of supplying food 
and shelter for the Kurds during the thirty-country 
aggression in 1991.  He is now preparing to supervise 
the operation of reconstructing Iraq through American 
companies and international financing..  The Zionist 
bulletin, Forward, that is issued in New York, writes, 
with a bit of pride, about the personal aspects of 
this General, namely that he is a personal friend of 
Sharon's and one of Israel's staunchest supporters.. 
This is the American plan:  to liberate Iraq from its 
national leadership and to appoint an American General 
who is a personal friend of Sharon's to manage Iraq's 
affairs in accordance with the requirements of 
Israel's security.  Shall we live and see a Zionist 
occupying the throne of Aaron Rashid?" 
 
-- "High Commissioner Garner" 
 
Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(04/08):  "Why is there not talk about a single 
political step that would confirm good intentions? 
Why does the United Nations, the European Union and 
the Arab League not have a part to play?  This is 
different.  Iraq is a spoil of war for which the 
mouths of the extremist right-wing group in Washington 
water.  Iraq has been in the heart of the thinking of 
this Zionist, right-wing America for while.  It is a 
project with regional ramifications, that the Zionists 
could not believe that circumstances have finally 
allowed its achievement, and with international 
ramifications that would guarantee the U.S.' total 
authority over the world for decades to come.  The 
proposal, therefore, is, simply, occupying Iraq and 
managing it to serve a joint American-Israeli account. 
Meanwhile, a media campaign that holds contempt for 
the Arabs, despising their thinking and their 
understanding, portrays the war as a charitable and 
heroic action for the sake of the poor Iraqis, and 
shamelessly speaks about reconstruction contracts and 
oil projects." 
 
-- "America liberated us from itself!" 
 
Columnist Hilmi Al-Asmar writes on the op-ed page of 
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(04/07):  "Bush's soldiers came to liberate Iraq, but 
instead ended up liberating us and accomplishing what 
we have failed to achieve, namely unveiling its ugly 
face [the United States]..  America launched its war 
to liberate Iraq from the `dictator', but instead, the 
image of that dictator was purged and cleansed from 
impurities.  He became the defender of his land and 
the resister of invaders, while the invader took over 
all the descriptions of a dictator, and put on the 
mask of the blood-sucking Dracula, and the story of 
his leadership of the `free world' turned into a 
ridiculous farce.  Invading Iraq, whatever the 
consequences, is going to rewrite history and correct 
many lies that some people tried to pass on as facts. 
The most serious of these lies is the portrayal of 
America's role as a political mediator between the 
Arabs and Israel, when it borrows the diplomacy of the 
bulldozer and Sharon's expertise in doing house-to- 
house searches." 
-- "91% of the Americans support the killing of 
Iraqis!" 
 
Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(04/07):  "The American newspaper "Washington Post" 
said that 91% of the American people are `comfortable 
with the ongoing war operations in Iraq' so far.  What 
does that mean?  It means that nine out of ten 
Americans find no problem with the way the war is 
going . which, in fact, means that they are 
comfortable with the killing of Iraqi civilians and 
children, the destruction of homes and facilities, the 
daily humiliation of people, the theft of oil, and the 
occupation of another country.  For Americans, the war 
is nothing more than a video game that they are 
watching on their lying media outlets with their 
defense minister displaying a `video clip' of American 
missiles and bombs as they explode on Iraqi 
`targets'..  The Americans do not see the human 
suffering, the suffering of children and women, the 
civilian victims, the destroyed homes, the hunger, the 
thirst, and they do not care.  They do not want to 
believe that their forces are using depleted uranium 
and cluster bombs, nor do they want to believe that 
their forces are kidnapping citizens from their homes 
and treating them as prisoners.  They watch the news, 
are reassured that there are no major number of 
victims among their U.S. forces, and are happy that 
the oil wells are in the hands of the American army, 
and they go on back to their daily lives, running 
after dollars, alcohol and booze." 
 
-- "The occupation is the beginning!" 
 
Daily columnist Mohammad Kawash writes on the back 
page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab 
Al-Yawm (04/07):  "The Americans and the British will 
eventually come to the realization that the occupation 
of Iraq is not the end of the line, that it is not 
going to achieve security and stability and open doors 
for investment companies.  Occupying Iraq will be the 
beginning, because Washington has no political 
solutions for Iraq that could overcome the historical, 
geographical, political and ethnic complexities and 
difficulties..  We are certain that the occupation of 
Iraq and its tragic repercussions are going to lead to 
entrenching the Arabs' and Muslims' feelings of hatred 
and animosity towards the United States.  This in turn 
is going to lead to the creation of a state of 
instability inside Iraq that would extend to a number 
of countries in the region.  This means that the 
entire region is at the threshold of a wave of 
violence, the consequences of which cannot be 
predicted..  These measures and plans are part and 
parcel of an America's project to liquidate the 
Palestinian issue, to reshape the Middle East, to 
nullify the Arab order, and to turn this region into 
small sectarian and ethnic states, which would nullify 
the joint Arab action and the Arab identity." 
GNEHM