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Diana T Fritz  08/26/2006 04:59:04 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

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UNCLAS        ABU DHABI 02744

SIPDIS
CXABU:
    ACTION: PAO
    INFO:   ECON POL DCM AMB

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:OLSINHILARY
DRAFTED: PAO:SANDERSON
CLEARED: PAO:THAMDI

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OO RUEHC RUENAAA RUEKJCS RUEHZM RUEHLO RHRMDAB
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DE RUEHAD #2744/01 1841212
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O 031212Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5976
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1046
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RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002744 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; 
RRU-NEA 
IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR MCKUNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: INDIAN-US COALITION; CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ; 
KUWAITI ELECTIONS; IRAN AND THE US; US CHARITY 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: A columnist in "Al-Khaleej" comments on the potential 
impact of an Indo-American alliance on Pakistan and China.  Another 
asserts that Iran has been the sole benefactor of the US's arrogant 
policies in the region.  Also in "Al-Khaleej" an unsigned editorial 
criticizes US Ambassador John Bolton for defending Israel in place 
of his own country, and ignoring Israeli crimes against 
Palestinians.  Another unsigned editorial in "Akhbar Al-Arab" 
questions the reality of security in Iraq if US authorities continue 
to commit heinous crimes.  Also a columnist in "Al-Bayan" lauds the 
Kuwaiti elections and insists that women were the election's biggest 
winners, despite not gaining any seats.  A final editorial in 
"Khaleej Times" praises the recent Supreme Court decision as a 
victory for American values.  Finally a letter to the editor in 
"Khaleej Times" expresses disappointment with charitable giving in 
the Muslim world in comparison to the West.  End Summary 
 
¶2. Under the headline "New Indo-American ties", columnist Dr. 
Ghassan Al-Azzi wrote the following in an 07/01 op-ed in the 
Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000): 
 
"It seems that an Indo-American coalition will be an important 
feature in international relations over the coming century.  The 
US's sugarcoated rhetoric towards Pakistan is not sufficient to 
ameliorate the consequences of this alliance.  Pakistan feels 
betrayed by an ally, one which it alone had supported in wars on the 
Taliban and al-Qaeda.  The same goes for China, which feels the 
danger of rising Indian trade competition.  The Chinese increasingly 
perceive that the US is supporting India out of their own fears of 
China's rise to power, in an effort to surround and ultimately place 
limits on its potential expansion." 
 
¶3. Under the headline "Washington: Thank you, Tehran: 
Congratulations", columnist Saad Mehio wrote the following in an 
07/02 op-ed in the Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" 
(circulation 85,000): 
 
"'We would like to thank President Bush for helping us get rid of 
Saddam, and for paving our way into Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, 
where our influence has grown following the withdrawal of the 
Syrians.  The Americans have raised oil prices, and helped us to 
build a collective identity in the region.  In sharing the same 
enemy, Iran is now closer to Egypt and the other Arab countries. 
Arabs and Muslims were not united until America acted as it did, and 
in doing so they have done us a great service!' Prominent Iranian 
diplomat Ali Ajbar Al-Ridaei was not joking when he made these 
remarks to a British periodical two days ago (The Guardian, June 
30).  And he is not wrong.  Wherever we go, we find that US policies 
since September 11 have cultivated nothing but immoral chaos, 
generating more hatred and revolt against the United States...  How 
is it that every American military or security 'victory' turns into 
a political and ideological accomplishment for Iran?  What mistakes 
have the Bush administration made?  Simple: the endless search for 
naked power.  Or as the Americans themselves say 'hubris,' meaning 
arrogance or vanity.  This explains why politics is absent in the US 
plan for the Middle East, because as security becomes the primary 
issue no space is left for political solutions.  And as policies of 
destruction are increasingly employed, subsequent policies of 
reconstruction become almost impossible.  This is what has happened 
in Afghanistan where the Taliban's regime was destroyed without a 
plan to rebuild the country.  And it has happened again in Iraq, 
after much of the country's infrastructure and industrial capacity 
were destroyed along with its military and government, without an 
adequate back-up plan for reconstruction.  This same pattern is now 
apparent in Palestine, where the Palestinian Authority is being 
targeted and destroyed even as Palestinian lands are being submerged 
in complete chaos." 
 
¶4. Under the headline "Protecting aggression" the Sharjah-based 
Pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000) published the 
following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: 
 
"The US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton was not 
representing his country properly during the UN's recent discussion 
on Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians.  He was actually 
representing Israel on behalf of Olmert's government, as he warped 
the truth in his defense of Israeli actions... Bolton, a Christian 
Zionist who hates Arabs and Muslims, deliberately obscured the war 
crimes and terrorist acts that have been committed by Israel against 
the Palestinian people...  These Security Council discussions have 
again served to expose the superpower's bias towards Israel.  It 
also demonstrates the foolishness of those who continue to throw 
their lot in with the United States as a neutral or principled 
arbiter, as the United States is not a reliable party when it comes 
to such issues of justice... Certainly all Arabs heard what Bolton 
and the White House have said in their defense of Israel, 
maintaining that Israel has the right to practice its right to 
defend itself through its war of annihilation against the 
Palestinians.  Won't Arabs understand what this means before it is 
too late?" 
 
¶5. Under the headline "Iraqis expect a civil war", the Abu 
Dhabi-based pan-Arab daily "Akhbar Al-Arab" (circulation 20,000) 
published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: 
 
"The recently revealed rape of an Iraqi girl by four American 
soldiers, who subsequently burned her body and murdered her family 
members, is merely an example of the horrendous acts which Iraqis 
must live with on a daily basis... Elsewhere, an Iraqi MP was 
kidnapped with her seven guards in the middle of the day.  So where 
is the security in all of this if those who are supposed to be 
providing security are the ones committing the crimes?  American 
terrorism is the same as sectarian terrorism.  Thus we can say Iraq 
is pregnant with a civil war and is about to deliver. " 
 
¶6. Under the headline "Elections and a new leaf in Kuwait", the 
Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" (circulation 90,000) published 
the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: 
 
"... Now that the results of the elections are clear, the process 
has proven itself fair and successful.  But Kuwaiti women are the 
biggest winners, despite not gaining any seats in the parliament. 
Such a result is no surprise, as this was the first time women were 
allowed to participate as they did.  But the important thing is that 
now Kuwaiti women are players in the field." 
 
¶7. Under the headline "Victory for justice and US ideals", the 
Dubai-based English daily "Khaleej Times" (circulation 85,000) 
published the following in an 07/02 unsigned editorial: 
 
"The Cuba prison not only mocks the beliefs and ideals of the 
architects of democratic America such as Thomas Jefferson, George 
Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but it also undermines its moral 
standing to promote these lofty ideas around the world... It's for 
the sake of these values, if nothing else, that the Bush 
administration must let the Bay detainees go home.  God knows they 
have suffered enough for the sins they are almost certain not to 
have committed..." 
 
¶8. Under the headline "Where are you brothers?", the Dubai-based 
English daily "Khaleej Times" (circulation 85,000) published the 
following 07/02 letter to the editor by "Wasim": 
 
"While talk of brotherhood emanates freely from terrorist leaders, 
not one of them speaks for Islamic principles which encompass the 
three most important ideals that Allah is and Allah characterizes, 
namely Love, Life and Light... Mercy, zakat, giving, charity.  I 
could feel the power of these words again when I visited Indonesia 
in the walk of the tsunami.  There was a sense of resentment among 
the common folk.  Saudi Arabia provided for rebuilding mosques and 
schools, but not one penny in personal contribution came from any 
wealthy man.  As US Marines came calling with helicopters, people 
wondered where the billionaires of [the] Muslim world had vanished. 
None cared to send doctors or rescue dogs, helicopters or hospital 
ships, food or money.  Where are you brothers?  Why are you so 
tightfisted with money that you would otherwise blow on hotels, 
harems and high-rises?" 
 
SISON