US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT2957

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002957 
 
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, JULY 1-2: PARLIAMENTARY 
ELECTION; IRAQ; ATTACKS ON US FORCES 
 
1.   SUMMARY: The parliamentary elections to be held on July 
5 dominate the news pages. One candidate believes that 
"embassies buy individuals and have pushed them to run in 
the election to serve their interests," while an Islamist 
candidate rails against "secularists trying to tamper with 
our educational curricula." In his session closing remarks, 
National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi stressed the 
need for continued reform and "fast and daring decisions" to 
confront the "economic and security challenges" facing 
Kuwait. 
 
Commentators opine on the recent series of attacks on US 
troops in Iraq, with one believing the attacks to be a 
manifestation of general Arab hostility towards America, 
while another feels their importance should not be 
exaggerated as they represent "sabotage and not resistance." 
One writer argues that the US did not enter Afghanistan and 
Iraq for the betterment of their peoples but rather to 
"cement Zionist military superiority." Another finds the 
idea of donations to the families of coalition forces killed 
in Iraq "immoral." END SUMMARY. 
 
2.   News Stories: National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al- 
Kharafi stated in his speech at the last session of the 
Assembly before the July 5 parliamentary elections that 
Kuwait is facing "security and economic challenges that need 
to be addressed by fast and daring decisions and deepening 
efforts for reform in the state and the society," Al-Qabas 
reports on its July 2 front page. 
 
Al-Rai Al-Aam reports on its July 1st front page that the 
conservative Islamist Salafi Movement are concerned that too 
many Islamist candidates may divide the vote and have 
negative effects on Islamist representation in the new 
National Assembly. 
 
Al-Qabas reports comments by National Assembly candidate 
Abdullah Al-Rejaib saying that, "embassies buy individuals 
and have pushed them to run in the election to serve their 
interests."  Al-Watan reports that one Islamist National 
Assembly candidate has declared: "Secularists are trying to 
tamper with our educational curricula and we have to stand 
up against their Westernized objectives." 
 
Al-Qabas reports that a Congressional delegation led by 
Senator John Warner visiting Kuwait and Iraq "hailed 
Kuwait's role in the liberation of Iraq." 
 
Editorials: 
 
3.  "When Morals Disappear" 
Dr. Yaser Al-Saleh wrote in independent Al-Rai Al-Aam 
(7/01):  "[T]he majority of Arabs believe the main reason 
behind the American invasion of Iraq, is to control Iraq's 
oil and thus accomplish the goals of the Zionist entity. 
This spirit of hostility also manifests itself in Iraq where 
resistance operations against the coalition forces are 
carried out on daily basis. Despite this, some here refer to 
[the coalition forces] as the forces of liberation, to the 
extent of collecting money for the families of the occupying 
forces killed in Iraq instead of spending on the needy here. 
What morals!" 
 
4.  "In the Right Direction" 
Dr. Yacoub Al-Sharrah wrote in independent Al-Rai Al-Aam 
(7/01):  "We call on the Iraqis to embrace this golden 
opportunity offered to them by the coalition, to build a new 
democratic nucleus so that Iraq may rapidly join the 
international community. It is a sensible state which 
protects the interests of its people by following a wise and 
even-minded policy and does not take the path of 
confrontation and destructive challenge which eventually 
leads nowhere." 
 
5. "History is not a Tea Party" 
Dr. Abdullah Al-Nafisi wrote in independent Al-Watan (7/02): 
"It is wrong to believe that the United States or the West 
came to Kabul or Baghdad to turn us from defeat to victory, 
backwardness to progress, and stagnation to development. The 
Western coalition is keen to cement Zionist military 
superiority, supplying them with WMD, at the same time 
stripping Arabs of such weapons and accusing them of being a 
threat to world peace, as events in Iraq have shown." 
 
6.  "Sabotage and Not Resistance" 
Pan-Arabist editor-in-chief Ahmed Al-Jarallah wrote in 
independent Al-Seyassah (7/02):  "There is no need to 
exaggerate armed attacks against America troops in Iraq. 
The situation is similar to events taking place in 
Afghanistan, where [Baathist] remnant groups attempt to 
prove themselves through desperate attacks. Iraq will not be 
another Somalia for Americans. These remnants seek to delay 
the course of reconstruction and development in Iraq.  Those 
who obstruct the reconstruction program by the United States 
will soon realize that Americans are capable of uprooting 
these groups." 
 
 
JONES