VZCZCXRO1558
OO RUEHDE
DE RUEHAD #3620 2560946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130946Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6921
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1107
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 003620 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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: ANNIVERSARY OF SEPT 11 
 
¶1.  Summary:  A UAE female columnist in "Al-Ittihad" highlights that 
America, instead of eradicating the reasons for hate and terror, 
have created new reasons for hate, anger and terror in the region. 
A UAE columnist in "Al-Ittihad" commented on the moment of silence 
which Bush and the world took this year for 9/11 victims saying that 
the world has been silent for five years, not talking about the acts 
of George Bush and his administration which insists on changing and 
punishing the world.  End Summary. 
 
 
¶2.  Under the headline "September events.. A moment of silence or 
five years of silence?", a UAE columnist, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, wrote 
in his weekly column in the Abu Dhabi-based semi-official 
Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad" on 09/11 (circulation 65,000): 
 
"People in world capitals observed a moment of silence to mark the 
painful memories of the 9/11 attacks on the WTC in NY.  This was 
evident, but the truth is that it was not just a moment of silence. 
The world has been silent for five years.  The world is not talking 
about the acts of George Bush and his administration which insisted 
on changing the world and punishing it -- not just the Muslim world, 
but the whole world.  Five years after that crime, it is clear that 
terror does not threaten the U.S. only.  A few days ago, Jordan 
arrested an armed man who killed and injured a number of tourists. 
In Denmark, a terrorist plot was thwarted.  Plots to bomb airplanes 
in the U.K. were thwarted.  Germany is investigating a plot to bomb 
trains.  Large groups of terrorists were arrested in Morocco...  The 
U.S. is not the only victim of terror.  The last five years have 
confirmed this and that all states are targets of terror...  The 
responsibility to confront it is not on the U.S. only, but on the 
whole world, even though the U.S. is the main reason to for 
terrorists...  Five years later, President Bush is finally convinced 
that the world is not safer after his war on terror and the 
occupation of Iraq.  The Americans and their allies have failed to 
destroy Al-Qaeda and arrest Bin Laden.  Thus, Bin Laden's 
organization has become stronger because it survived the past five 
years...  What would happen if the U.S. had a more just position on 
Palestine?  What if it accepted the Arabs as partners in securing 
peace, not as threats?  What if it considered Gulf oil as something 
they could get without creating instabilities, waging wars, and 
instigating terrorists?  ...So many things could have changed in 
favor of the U.S., the Arabs, Muslims, and the whole world, and not 
in the interest of terrorists." 
 
¶3.  Under the headline "11 September.. A Moment of Silence", a UAE 
female columnist, Aisha Al-Merri, wrote in her weekly column in the 
Abu Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad" on 
09/11 (circulation 65,000): 
 
"Yes the world did pause for a moment, but not only to mourn for the 
U.S. victims, but to also mourn the humanitarian principles which 
were violated and are still being violated in the name of combating 
terror.  Many democracies legitimized violating human rights... 
Terrorism has succeeded in changing the features of Western 
countries, and introduced vocabularies that were not known by people 
before like Islamophobia.  Every Arab Muslim in the Middle East is 
automatically convicted if he lacks an alibi.  The question that 
needs to be answered: "Is the world a safer place than it was on 
9/11 in 2001?  After five years, we can only say that Washington has 
failed militarily, intellectually and security-wise, because the 
U.S. administration is still chasing terror's ghost in vain...  Iraq 
embodies the greatest U.S. losses, despite the fact that Saddam was 
captured, because of the sectarian bloodshed...  Let's have a moment 
of silence to mourn a historical moment which changed the world, but 
did not change the infrastructure on which the U.S. administration 
built its policies in the region, because instead of eradicating the 
reasons of hate and terror, the U.S. policies worked towards 
generating new reasons for hate, anger and terror in the region that 
could lead to another 9/11." 
 
 
 
 
SISON