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OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHAD #0102/01 0251204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251204Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8093
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1148
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000102 
 
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 ERELI 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: STATE OF THE UNION 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The editorial in "Al-Khaleej" describes President 
Bush's State of the Union speech as a depiction of the quagmire 
United States is currently experiencing.  It assertsd that the 
policy of the neoconservatives needs to change from unilateralism to 
multilateralism when dealing with international issues. The 
editorial in "Al-Bayan" concludes that the President did not 
introduce anything new as he insists on resolving issues by force, 
and wonders whether this will stop the bloodshed in Iraq.  The 
editorial in Gulf News accuses Bush of desperately attempting to 
regain some of his authority that had leaked away in recent months. 
End summary 
¶2.  Under headline "Bush's last chance", "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 
90,000), Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily, 1/25 editorial: 
 
"The speech by President George W. Bush expressed the real strife 
the United States is experiencing, and not the American President 
alone.  The neoconservatives' policy has led the United States into 
a quagmire; the pro forma adjustments will not help.  What is needed 
is a profound change from unilateralism to multilateralism when 
dealing with the world's problems, and from imposing their will on 
peoples of the world to respecting peoples' will, and from 
overlooking international laws to respecting them.  This is a real 
move whose cost will be born by the elites, but would at then end 
bring about great benefits to the people." 
¶3.  "Al-Bayan" (circulation 85,000), Dubai-based Arabic daily, 1/25 
editorial: 
 
"The best way to describe Bush's State of the Union speech is weak 
and defensive. The situation in Iraq is very bad; confusion is 
overwhelming.  President Bush has reached an unprecedented decline 
in his popularity with only 28%. He now becomes a lame duck, which 
is why he found no choice except to hope that the Americans, the 
Congress and the public opinion might grant him the opportunity, 
time and patience to work on a new Iraqi policy, and implement it. 
His annual report was typically a list of achievements of last year 
and a list of aspirations to be completed in the current year...If 
President Bush resolved to rely on force, or rather continue to rely 
on force, he then would put the Iraqis and their leaders in front of 
a fait accompli to decide what Iraq they want to have. Certainly, 
the continuation of the current situation will not lead to the 
desired Iraq.  So are Iraqis moving towards a change and thus rescue 
their future, or will they remain doomed to the same old strategy 
presented in Bush's recent speech?" 
¶4.  Under headline "State of Bush not State of the Union", Gulf 
News, (circulation 95,000), Dubai-based English daily, 1/25 
editorial: 
"It was a subdued State of the Union address. The problem for 
President George W. Bush is that the Union is not subdued. The 
Democrats now control Congress and are itching to make a change. 
Bush went through the motions, touched on the issues - Iraq, Iran 
and energy, all actually inter-related - but he was not persuasive. 
In a speech that was less than an hour long, the sixth of his 
presidency, Bush was desperately attempting to regain some of his 
authority that has leaked away in recent months. He failed. This is 
an unpopular president whose reputation for ignoring sound advice 
was strengthened by his decision to send more troops to Iraq.  Not 
surprisingly then that silence or at least an absence of fervent 
applause met his remarks on Iraq. Half his speech dealt with 
domestic issues and his proposal to tackle America's love affair 
with oil by setting an ambitious target to reduce petrol consumption 
within 10 years by 20 per cent.  He set out a plan to achieve this 
through increased use of ethanol and other bio-fuel alternatives and 
through car manufacturers making their products more fuel-efficient. 
Nobody believes that this president has turned green or that climate 
change is a White House priority, but the political agenda has 
changed so much in Washington that a stranded president had no 
alternative except to pay lip service to environmental issues.  He 
sounded an ominous note when he stated that the US would not allow 
Iran to have nuclear weapons. This was greeted by widespread 
applause. But generally his speech was listened to more out of 
politeness than support. He is now well and truly in lame duck 
territory. Congress is hostile, suspicious and impatient. The Bush 
presidency will not end until 2009 but it has a hollow sound to it 
now." 
¶5.  TV Coverage: 
UAE Television channels including Dubai Television, Abu Dhabi and 
Sharjah carried lengthy excerpts of the speech during their 
newscasts and news summaries.  The reports showed the President 
 
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chose to tackle less confrontational issues such as alternative 
energy and to place issues such as Iraq and the war on terrorism on 
a lower scale on his priorities to avoid clashes with the Democrats. 
 Coverage emphasized the mounting opposition by the 
Democrat-dominated House and the Senate to the President's strategy 
in Iraq and the low popularity of the president. 
Sison 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SMR 25 Jan 2007 bush state union           UNCLASSIFIED