US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2372

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002372 
 
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 IRAQ 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead stories in all papers today, April 20, 
continue to focus on developments in Iraq.  Reports 
highlight the arrest of the former Iraqi Minister of 
Finance and the withdrawal of the U.S. Marines as they 
handed over the civilian management of Iraq to the 
U.S. army.  Papers highlight the Arab regional 
conference that was held in Riyadh yesterday, calling 
for an end to the "occupation" of Iraq and rejecting 
threats to Syria. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Free region of WMD" 
 
Centrist, influential among the elite English daily 
Jordan Times (04/20) editorializes:  "The weapons 
inspection saga is now a familiar story after the 
international community saw where and how it led with 
and ended in Iraq.  The UN weapons inspectors never 
found a trace of any weapons of mass destruction in 
Iraq and now after a month of US occupation, no proof 
has been found to incriminate Iraq on that count. 
Today, the same familiar tactics are being directed 
towards Syria with suggestions that it should allow 
weapons inspectors in to establish whether it has 
chemical weapons or not..  Once inspectors are allowed 
into the country, there is always a risk the United 
States would never be satisfied with the findings and 
may end up doing what it has done in Iraq, i.e. using 
the pretext of its own unconfirmed allegations that 
chemical weapons are present in Syria, to play havoc 
with Syrian sovereignty..  Damascus now insists on a 
UN Security Council resolution that would declare the 
Middle East a zone free of all types of mass 
destruction weapons, including of course nuclear 
capability, which Israel holds claim to..  Double 
standards in the application of the will of the 
international community to rid the world of all mass 
destruction weapons can no longer be accepted or 
tolerated.  Now is the time to take up the Syrian 
proposal if the United States and other interested 
countries are serious about eliminating the dangers of 
such weapons." 
 
-- "No Arab role" 
 
Daily columnist Mohammad Kawash writes on the back 
page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab 
Al-Yawm (04/20):  "What happened in Iraq, and 
previously in Palestine, makes us deal carefully with 
the Arab position towards hot and serious issues. 
Today, all Arab countries, without exception, reject 
and condemn the U.S. threats against Syria..  When the 
war begins, Damascus will realize that the brotherly 
Arab countries are incapable of providing any 
assistance, even helpless about issuing a statement of 
condemnation against the United States..  We tell our 
brothers in Syria to completely forget about any Arab 
support or any joint Arab action in this new crisis 
that the U.S. administration created.  We advise 
Damascus to understand the changes, to read well the 
U.S. developments and tendencies, and to quickly move 
on the political and diplomatic front..  We have 
washed our hands completely from any genuine Arab 
action during crises and from any effective Arab role 
in confronting the Israeli and the American onslaught, 
and we say there is not Arab role.  Yet, this does not 
mean that we should suffer from helpless, desperation 
and frustration, because this time we are depending on 
the role of the people in resisting the foreign 
occupation.  The Palestinian people are still capable 
of snatching their freedom and independence and the 
Iraqi people are able to confront the occupation and 
to protect its wealth." 
 
-- "Those gloating about the fall of Baghdad" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(04/20):  "Ousting the Baath regime in Iraq allowed 
those who oppose that regime to cry over democracy and 
to condemn oppression and dictatorship in an indirect 
way of welcoming the American occupation of Iraq. 
What is being written and said is not meant to serve 
democracy, but to support the American stand and 
justify the occupation of Iraq..  The freedom that 
America brought is a freedom to steal, to loot, and to 
destroy Iraq's treasures, history and heritage.. 
Democracy cannot be imposed on people by the power of 
steel, fire, Apaches and Tomahawks.  Democrats cannot 
be led by Ahmad Jalabi, who embezzled millions of 
dinars from the country that hosted him..  America 
beat the Iraqi regime militarily, but the people of 
Iraq are going to beat America politically.  While 
America's military position was raised after the war, 
its moral position and power collapsed..  What fell in 
Iraq was not one of the Arab regimes.  It was the 
strategic depth of Jordan and Syria; the high dam that 
protected the Gulf countries from the Mullahs of Iran; 
and the last obstacle in the face of eliminating the 
Palestinian issue." 
GNEHM