This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001667 
 
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 story in all papers today, March 19, 
highlights under banner headlines reported remarks by 
the White House spokesperson that "Washington will 
enter Iraq even if Saddam leaves".  Major stories 
focus on developments related to the war on Iraq, 
including the Iraqi President's rejection of the U.S. 
ultimatum. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "War against the United Nations" 
 
Daily columnist Rakan Majali writes on the back page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/19):  "Some analysts make the point that the major 
effect of the war will be to put an end to the old 
world order that has prevailed since the second world 
war and that brought forth the United Nations and also 
achieved a status of international equalization 
particularly between the two superpowers, the United 
States and the Soviet Union..  The U.S. invasion of 
Iraq will, in effect, mean the end of the United 
Nations, because, according to the United States, the 
organization has exhausted its purposes and the world 
order that existed since the second world war needs to 
be replaced by a new world order, which has previously 
been declared by the United States following the 
collapse of the Soviet Union.  What the United States 
seeks to do today is to move from the declaration 
phase to the implementation phase of this new world 
order, thereby reflecting a specific status quo, 
namely the presence of a single superpower that 
controls the world's capabilities." 
 
-- "A quiet discussion about the option of stepping 
down" 
 
Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(03/19):  "The American-British camp is ready to 
launch war and there are no positive indications of 
any move towards finding a solution that protects the 
Iraqi people from the American aggression any other 
movement.  Bush's ultimatum to the Iraqi President and 
his family to leave or face war is nothing but a 
political maneuver to attempt to put the ball in the 
Iraqi court and hold the Iraqi President responsible 
for starting the war..  The Iraqi President will not 
leave and there is nothing in his history or his 
mentality that would suggest that.  Moreover, most 
countries reject this idea because it opens the door 
to chaos in international relations.  Washington would 
start building up its forces around every country 
whose policies it does not approve of and then require 
changing the regime by the threat of power.  This 
would be utter nonsense." 
 
-- "The imminent Iraqi attack" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of 
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(03/19):  "The world has not witnessed such a blatant 
aggression since the days of the Moguls.  In the name 
of eliminating alleged weapons of mass destruction, 
America is going to use weapons of mass destruction; 
and on the pretext of implementing Security Council 
resolutions, America bypasses the Security Council, 
which does not want war.  And on the pretext of 
protecting Iraq's neighbors, America threatens those 
same neighbors if they fail to provide facilities for 
the aggression; and under the pretext of saving the 
Iraqi people, three thousand bombs will fall on Iraqi 
cities in the first few hours of the war.  The 
president of the most democratic country in the world 
allowed himself to deliver a fiery speech asking the 
president of another sovereign country to abandon his 
country within 48 hours.  How can this happen in the 
twenty-first century?  Why has America become a 
country that undermines international law, ignores 
world public opinion, and wages a destructive war 
without provocation?  U.S. President Bush's address 
will go down in history along with speeches by Hitler, 
Stalin and all other dictators who love war and 
understand nothing but the language of force, threats, 
invasions and destruction." 
 
-- "The war is not the end" 
Daily columnist Tarek Masarweh writes on the back page 
of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(03/19):  "In his address, President Bush asked the 
Iraqi President to leave his country within 48 hours 
in order to avoid war and is asking the Iraqi army not 
to fight.  The American President is asking the Iraqis 
to open up their cities and villages to the American 
occupation army.  Is there any worse contempt, not 
only for the Iraqis, but also for the people of the 
world?  To think that a people might welcome an 
occupation may apply in a different country, but it 
cannot happen in a country that fought for eight 
years, suffered a siege for twelve years and resisted 
all forms of American operations..  The declaration of 
war is not the end to the Iraqi issue.  It is just the 
beginning." 
GNEHM