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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #6460 2351058
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231058Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3427
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0423
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1352
RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS AMMAN 006460 
 
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 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON LEBANON 
 
Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "A new Arab initiative" 
 
Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of centrist, 
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/23):  "The moment the war on 
Lebanon ended, Israel began a process of comprehensive evaluation of 
its political and military performance.  The war has constituted a 
significant point in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and because every 
experience has lessons to offer, Israel endeavored to learn the 
lessons from the war in order to use them in future strategies that 
would serve Israel's interests. The Arabs too must learn the lessons 
from the war, because the aggression showed major infractions in 
Arab policies and in methodologies adopted by the Arab countries in 
the face of challenges....  There is information that Egypt, Saudi 
Arabia and Jordan are currently working on creating an Arab 
initiative for that purpose.  Available information indicates that 
this initiative will be based on the Arab initiative that was 
adopted at the Beirut summit in 2002 and will seek to take back the 
peace process to the principles it was launched from, namely 
Security Council resolutions 242 and 338....  There are no 
guarantees that this move will yield quick successes, particularly 
since Israel is now suffering from an internal crisis that will 
limit the government's ability to respond with the Arab proposal, 
and since America is at the threshold of Congressional elections 
that will consume the U.S. administration's full attention.  Yet, 
this initiative reflects an Arab awareness and realization of two 
important things.  The first is that the situation in the region has 
deteriorated severely and reached a very grave and serious level ... 
and the second is that a mass Arab action is the only way for the 
Arabs to regain their role in their own world." 
 
-- "Ambiguous phraseology" 
 
Centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times editorial (08/23) opines: 
 "The UN Security Council now has an established practice of mincing 
words and repeatedly using ones that have dual meaning. True, the 
Security Council is often obliged to resort to such tactics in order 
to garner support for its resolutions. Yet, never before has it used 
such ambiguous phraseology that deliberately confuses the parties to 
the conflict, as well as the rest of the international community, as 
it did in Resolution 1701. By calling for "the immediate cessation 
by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of 
all offensive military operations," the council has opened a 
Pandora's box that left Israel and its avid supporters free to 
interpret Israeli military actions as they see fit.  The wording of 
the resolution in effect encouraged, or rather tempted, the Jewish 
state to infiltrate deep into Lebanese territory last Saturday, 
under the false pretext that its action was purely "defensive.... 
The issue that concerns us most now is why the council continues to 
use words that can only invite or facilitate the violation of its 
resolutions....  When will the Security Council stop being 
double-tongued when it adopts resolutions? The fallout from the 
poorly drafted Resolution 242 still haunts all sides and is the 
reason why the Palestinian question remains unresolved until the 
present day. Had Resolution 242 been more clearly articulated and 
the parties would not be where they still are.  As for the latest 
Israeli violation of the ceasefire resolution, the council is 
invited to step forward and call a spade a spade by describing the 
latest Israeli incursion into Lebanon as a grave violation in no 
uncertain terms. Otherwise, the council members would be accomplices 
to Israeli misinterpretation of Resolution 1701." 
HALE