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Diana T Fritz  08/26/2006 04:49:15 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

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UNCLAS        ABU DHABI 03132

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

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:WROBERTSON
DRAFTED: PAO:SANDERSON
CLEARED: PAO:THAMDI

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OO RUEHC RUENAAA RUEKJCS RUEHZM RUEHLO RHRMDAB
RHWSMRC
DE RUEHAD #3132 2141054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021054Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6423
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1081
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 003132 
 
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 
PITRANSGRESS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: CRISIS IN LEBANON 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Editorials continued to tie the ongoing conflict in 
Lebanon to broader ideological and political struggles in the 
region.  One Emirati columnist in "Al-Ittihad" dwelled upon the 
contrasting interests both Iran and the United States have in the 
ongoing conflict, while another in "Al-Bayan" stressed the 
incompatibility of Pan-Arab and Zionist ideology.  The lead 
editorial of the prominent English-language "Gulf News" condemned 
U.S. policy in the Lebanon conflict, indicating their belief that it 
was part of a broader U.S. strategy for regional dominance.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  On 08/02, Emirati columnist Mohammed Al-Hammadi wrote the 
following in his weekly editorial in the Abu Dhabi-based 
semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al Ittihad" (circulation 
65,000): 
 
"This war has rendered the U.S.-Israeli relationship so translucent 
so as to make it stupid to say America is biased towards Israel.  In 
truth, America is biased towards the oil reservoir that is the 
region, and Israel is merely the instrument by which it pursues its 
objectives... At present, the region is undergoing a historic change 
wherein it is the subject of a struggle between two major forces; 
and the only ones who suffer are the Lebanese... The absence of 
Egyptian leadership and Arab activism in this conflict has given 
Iran the space it needs to take up the vanguard of defending Islam 
and its oppressed subscribers from U.S. and Israeli aggression... 
U.S.-Iranian conflict is not surprising in Lebanon or elsewhere, as 
each party has its own public and private ambitions for the region. 
Iran wants to control the Middle Eastern oil reservoir before the 
U.S. consumes it all.  And we should not be surprised that Iran is 
willing to engage the world's sole superpower, as it has something 
which the U.S. does not: knowledge of the region and its history, 
two thing Americans remain completely ignorant of.  As U.S.-Iranian 
conflict runs hot and cold these days, we should not be surprised if 
it is eventually manifested in a full-fledged conflict.  The only 
question that remains is who will pay for the next conflict?" 
 
¶3. On 08/02 under the headline "Zionism and Arab Nationalism are 
incompatible", female Emirati columnist Dr. Latifa Al-Najjar wrote 
the following in her weekly editorial in the Dubai-based 
Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan" (85,000): 
 
"Talking of peace between Zionism and Arab Nationalism these days is 
wishful thinking.  The peace called for by Zionists and westerners 
is nothing but surrender.  Everyone should by now recognize that 
human history is based on the conflict of interests, and that 
peoples' rights are forgotten if they are not defended by such 
force.  It is no secret that Zionist settlements are reflections of 
old colonialism, revamped as new colonialism and advocated strongly 
by the American right-wing and neo-conservatives, who agree so 
overwhelmingly with the Zionists.  After all this conflict, can 
peace be achieved between the Zionists and Arabs?  Can Zionism's 
colonial ideology coexist with the Arabs who wish to live safely in 
their own countries?  Current events demonstrate that there is no 
possibility for such cooperation or coexistence, either 
theoretically or in reality." 
 
¶4. On 08/02 under the headline "Bush's stance is very clear," the 
prominent Dubai-based English-language daily "Gulf News" 
(circulation 95,000) published the following in its anonymous lead 
editorial: 
 
"... The blank cheque granted by US President George W. Bush to 
Israel for continued aggression will lead to a new America-created 
quagmire.  This is but an American war being waged by Israeli war 
planners a stars and stripes agenda that is colored by the Star of 
David... [W]as Lebanon not at peace until Israel declared war?  The 
ground reality of the crisis in Lebanon is clear in black and white. 
 But with the bonding of an American-Israeli agenda, the whole 
situation has been redefined.  The region does not need another 
nation to exist on the threshold of a civil war." 
 
 
QUINN