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 000500 
 
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 TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, IRAN, TERRORISM 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, January 23, focuses 
on the Lebanese Prime Minister's visit to Jordan and 
his talks with King Abdullah.  Other lead stories 
continue to highlight developments related to the 
Iraqi government formation process and the upcoming 
Palestinian elections. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Positive indicators for the Iraqi elections" 
 
The center-left, influential, pro-Palestinian Arabic 
daily Al-Dustour (1/22) editorializes:  "Despite the 
current situation in Iraq and its many complications, 
the results of the parliamentary elections in Iraq 
have shown the natural size of the political forces in 
the Iraqi arena..  The Iraqis have always lived in a 
homeland with internationally and regionally agreed 
upon political and geographic borders, and they are 
not expected to depart from these borders.  Neither 
are the Kurds able to establish a state extending 
through the Turkish and Iranian borders nor are the 
Shiites ready to become part of the Iranian nation. 
Moreover, the Kurds and the Shiites as well as the 
Sunnis are Iraqis who belong to the Arab nation and 
who belong to a country of historical, cultural and 
economic value, so why would any of them abandon it or 
turn against it?  The Shiites are not the opposite of 
the Sunnis and there is no core difference between 
them despite the presence of disputes between them 
over how to deal with the post Saddam Hussein era. 
The biggest proof of this is that all vicious attempts 
at starting a sectarian war between have been put out 
by both parties..  The legislative elections are not 
by far the end of the path in the series of 
requirements that Iraqis must fulfill in order to 
contribute to the departure of the foreign forces. 
The elections are just the beginning of the road 
towards an even more difficult stage that represents 
the genuine test for Iraqis' ability to overcome this 
interim stage successfully.  This is not just a 
political process, but a decisive struggle against the 
forces that want to create chaos.  The unity of the 
representatives of the Iraqi people is one of the 
effective weapons to achieve security, stability and 
prosperity." 
 
-- "For the sake of all" 
 
The centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times (1/22) 
editorializes:  "While US promises of bringing 
democracy to the region by occupying Iraq still ring 
hollow, hypocritical and not a little patronizing, the 
fact is Iraq has just announced the results of 
parliamentary elections that show some measure of 
equal representation for the various ethno-religious 
communities in the war-torn country.  The question now 
is, what will this parliament, still a parliament 
under foreign occupation, do, and what kind of 
government will it form?  It would be tempting to hope 
that a national unity government made up of Shiites, 
Sunnis and Kurds is formed in an attempt to steer the 
country away from a potential civil war.  More 
important than a unity government is a government that 
acts responsibly, and as the government of all the 
people..  The behavior of whatever new Iraqi 
government is formed is likely to be the crucial 
factor that will determine not only when the 
occupation of Iraq will end, but what kind of country 
will be left behind..  Important too is the behavior 
of the opposition.  Opposition parties will have to 
confine their disagreement to the political arena.. 
It is also crucial in this mix that no Iraqi 
government be seen as anything other than Iraqi.  The 
U.S.-led occupation forces must prepare themselves to 
withdraw.  Ultimately, the responsibility for Iraq's 
future must rest with Iraqis, and Iraqis of all 
persuasions.  The United States, the new parliament 
and those who act in the name of Iraqi independence 
must all now show a maturity and a level of 
responsibility bordering on the superhuman.  For the 
sake of us all, we must hope they succeed". 
 
-- "The return of Bin Laden" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back-page of 
the semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(1/23):  "The new Bin Laden tape broadcast by Al- 
Jazeera after more than one year of silence has its 
own objectives.  The first is to declare that he is 
still alive; he was not killed by American bullets nor 
did he die of kidney failure, but opted for silence 
when he saw that silence is golden.  The second is 
political and is represented in the offering of a 
truce to America, knowing well that it is going to 
reject it publicly, but hoping that it would accept it 
secretly..  The implicit message in Bin Laden talk is 
 
SIPDIS 
that America is in a receding position and that the 
resistance and Al-Qaeda are in a progressive position, 
and so the future does not look promising for America, 
and therefore it is better to decrease its losses and 
admit defeat.  The U.S. administration will use Bin 
Laden's talk to rally support for the U.S. President 
and his policies.  Threatening more terrorist 
operations in America is likely to facilitate the rise 
of the administration's civil rights transgressions, 
the continuation of the emergency status and to 
support the President in his large scale war on 
terrorism..  Other than raising the morale of Al-Qaeda 
members with the proof that their leader still lives, 
the main beneficiary from the tape is the U.S. 
President." 
 
-- "Muslims and the nuclear weapons" 
 
Daily columnist Rakan Majali writes on the back-page 
of the center-left, influential Arabic daily Al- 
Dustour (1/22):  "When the United States invaded 
Afghanistan in 2001, we had said that its first and 
foremost goal is to turn Pakistan into an American 
military base in order to establish American control 
over Pakistan's nuclear capabilities.  What happens 
today with Iran falls within the same context, namely 
preventing any Muslim country from owning any nuclear 
weapons, even if they were countries far away from 
Israel, because America is ultimately interested in 
easing Israeli fears and worries.  After America's 
occupation of Iraq, it was proven that all pretexts 
and justifications for its occupation of Iraq were 
baseless fabrications, as America itself has admitted, 
and it became clear that the objective of occupying 
Iraq was to reassure Israel and to get Iraq out of the 
conflict once and for all..  The most that can be said 
about the noise being made about Iran's ownership of 
nuclear weapons is that it stems from attempts to 
quiet Israel's fears about Iran's potential ownership 
of a nuclear weapon.  Senior strategists in America 
and Israel do not hide fears of any Muslim country's 
potential ownership of deterrent weapons that could be 
tools to achieve a balance and ultimately lead to a 
just and comprehensive solution to the Arab Israeli 
conflict..  The point is that America wants Israel to 
be the only power in the region and to have all the 
options and all the ace cards.  It does not want to 
keep any ace card in the hands of Arabs and Muslims, 
starting with ownership of nuclear weapons and ending 
with resistance in Palestine." 
HALE