Cablegate: Damascus Media Reaction: Unsc Resolution On Lebanon,

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O 131300Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0907
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6175
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4018
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2573
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7212
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RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0806
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6945

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 003945

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC
CENTCOM FOR CCPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: UNSC Resolution on Lebanon,
Syria/Norway, Palestinian Territories, Iraq (8/11-13)

1. Summary: Syrian papers gave prominent coverage to the
adoption of UNSC Resolution No. 1701, with detailed descriptions
of its contents.
Papers also reported a press statement by Lebanese Foreign
Minister Salloukh praising the UN Human Rights Council's
resolution condemning the Israeli aggression against Lebanon.
Salloukh said that the resolution strongly condemned Israeli
human rights violations, including deliberate targeting of
civilians, and called for an investigation of Israeli massacres
in Lebanon. The Minister said that the resolution is one of a
series of complaints and cases that will be filed against
Israel. Salloukh also discussed with the Assistant UN High
Commissioner for Refugee Affairs the situation of the Lebanese
people who have been displaced by the Israeli aggression and
plans for their return to their homes. Salloukh also met with
the US Ambassador in Beirut, and the Personal Representative of
the UN Secretary General in Lebanon and discussed with them the
enforcement of UN Resolution 1701 and the deteriorating
situation in south Lebanon.

Papers also reported that talks between Deputy Foreign Minister
Faisal Miqdad and Svein Sevje, the Norwegian Envoy to the Middle
East, focused on the latest developments in the region, the
Israeli military aggression against Lebanon and the UN Security
Council resolution. Talks also covered the situation in the
occupied Palestinian territories and Israeli violations of
international law and UN resolutions.

End of summary.

2. Selected Headlines:

"A catastrophic day for Israeli Merkava tank. Over 100 Israeli
soldiers killed or injured in confrontation with Lebanese
national resistance. The national resistance downs an Israeli
helicopter, killing its crew, and destroys 34 Merkava tanks"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/13)

"The Lebanese government approves UNSC 1701 resolution with
reservations" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 8/13)

"Nasrallah, SecGen of Hizbollah, comments on the latest UN
Security Council resolution on Lebanon: War is not over yet...
When Israeli hostilities stop then Lebanese retaliations will
end... The resistance confirms commitment to the April
Understanding... Our reservations on the UNSC resolution will be
discussed with the cabinet" (Government-owned Tishreen, 8/13)

"Nasrallah: Issuance of the UNSC resolution fails to stop the
aggression. The UNSC resolution is unfair and the resistance will
go on fighting to defend our country. The Arab delegation to the
UN: The Resolution is unbalanced and fails to consider Lebanon's
interests. UN Chief Annan: Not adopting the resolution earlier
undermined confidence in the international organization. Iran:
the Resolution serves Israel. Russian President Putin: The
Resolution gives a chance for political solution. Israeli Premier
Olmert thanks US President Bush for his efforts on behalf of the
resolution" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/13)
"Israeli Prime Minister Olmert takes the risk of dispatching his
army to south Lebanon's graveyard. The Lebanese national
resistance destroys an Israeli gunboat; the Israeli navy
staggers" (Government-owned Tishreen, 8/12)
"Treacherous Israel strike hits displaced Lebanese from Marjoyoun
at night" (Government-owned TIshreen, 8/12)
"Mosque orators and Imams: The massacres in Lebanon confirm the
enemy's racism and hatred of Arabs" (Government-owned Tishreen,
8/13)
"Haaretz: Olmert has failed in managing the battle politically
and militarily; He must resign" (Government-owned Tishreen, 8/12)
"After providing Israel with smart bombs, the US administration
provides Israel with cluster bombs" (Government-owned Tishreen,
8/12)
"Deputy Foreign Minister Miqdad holds talks with the Norwegian
envoy on the UNSC debate over the Israeli aggression" (Government-
owned Al-Thawra, 8/11)

"Israeli embarrassment and defeat in South Lebanon. Lebanese
bloodshed continues under the rhythm of the UNSC debate. 18
Israeli soldiers killed and 38 wounded. 18 Mirkava tanks
destroyed and 30 others withdrawn from the battlefield"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/11)
"Warnings against the deteriorating health of Dwaik, Speaker of
Palestinian Legislative Council, in Israeli jail. Israeli
occupation troops destroy a building in Gaza and wound 4
Palestinians who were demonstrating against the separation wall"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 8/12)
"Four US soldiers killed or wounded in clashes in Iraq while 135
Iraqis were victimized by a terrorist explosion in Najaf"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/11)

3. Editorial Block Quotes:

-----------

"Fascists"

-----------

Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
commented (8/12): "We were not surprised by US President George
Bush's remark that he is at war with those whom he called
'Islamic fascists.' Wasn't he the one who said the United States
was waging a crusade?

"With all the politeness he is known for, Bush said that only
some Muslims are fascists, not all of them, for he did not want
to find himself compelled once again to apologize for another
'slip of the tongue.'

"But aren't we, the political illiterates, entitled to ask: Who
are the fascists? What is meant by the term 'Islamic fascists'?
Is it connected to terrorism, for example?

"If President Bush meant to liken the Lebanese, Palestinian, and
Iraqi resistance, in particular, to the Italian fascism that
Mussolini's party represented or to the Hitler-led Nazi party,
how does he describe Israel and its army, which for the entire
past month has been killing women and children, destroying
bridges, and targeting hospitals, ambulances, and everything
that moves, including trees?

"Here we do not forget that Bush used the claimed British
disruption of an attempt to blow up a passenger plane en route
to the United States to reveal to us the truth about the racist
fascism and to prove to us that the term 'crusade' that he once
used was not a slip of the tongue, but a Zionist policy and
ideology adopted by the neoconservatives, whose identification
with the Talmudic creed has led them to a point where they
preach the battle of Armageddon, in which the Jews will defeat
evil. According to this Talmudic creed, evil is represented by
the followers of all earthly and divine religions, mainly Islam
and Christianity.

"Thus the neo-fascists disclose their full support for and
blessing of the neo-nazis. And thus the facts on the ground
prove that all these are the enemies of the people and the
enemies of freedom and humanity. They are the ones who are
waging the war of murder and destruction in Lebanon, and were
doing the same before that in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The exporters of the weapons of destruction and genocide have
no right to talk about fascism. And those who supported and
blessed the killing of women and children and the destruction of
everything in Lebanon, and who violated human rights in Abu
Ghurayb, Guantanamo, and many other places, have no right to
utter such reckless terms that harm Islam, the religion of love,
brotherhood, and peace. The Islamic nation must respond, even if
through the media, to the racist and arrogant ones. This is the
least that can be done. Those words by Bush mark a new stage in
the onslaught against the Islamic nation and the continuation of
the destructive war against it. Is it not time for an

awakening?"

--------------------------

"Democracy of Destruction"
--------------------------

Samir al-Shibani, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen,
wrote (8/12): "It has now become clear to the peoples and
governments of the region that the democracy the US
Administration has been talking about is meant only as a cover
for its plan to infiltrate the region and redraw its map in a
way that serves the interests of the United States and
Israel....

"After all the Israeli destruction, horror, and massive use of
internationally banned weapons in Lebanon and its assassination
of democracy in Palestine, it has become clear to all Arabs that
they have no option other than resistance. Here is the Israeli
enemy continuing its aggression, understanding and recognizing
nothing else. All Arabs, therefore, have to support the
resistance and entrench the culture of resistance. Here is the
American and Israeli 'democracy' entering its second month,
carrying with it destruction, poison, and fascist conduct. What
an evil democracy...."

-------------------------

"Ironical Contradictions"

-------------------------

Ahmad Hamadah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra,
wrote (8/11): "Claims by the Israeli representative at the
United Nations that Israel does not target civilians in Lebanon
and that it is only fighting Hizbollah are ridiculous....

"These are bald lies, easily refuted.... If the massive
destruction of Lebanese bridges, buildings, villages, cities,
hospitals, and the entire infrastructure is not, as the Zionist
representative claimed, a destruction of Lebanon, then what is
it...?

"Israel's claims that Hizbollah fighters operate amid civilians
are false and baseless.... Images aired by the media prove that
children, women, and the elderly are directly targeted by
Israel.... Israel, which seeks to delude the world into thinking
that it is fighting terrorism, is a terrorist entity that has
been engaged in massive massacres since the first day of its
establishment...."

----------------------

"Deadly US Friendship"

----------------------

Muhammad Ali Buzah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-
Thawra, wrote (8/11): "Who can believe US statements that
despite the tragic events in Lebanon the United States remains
firmly and uncompromisingly committed to Lebanon and determined
to bring the country out of its ordeal and help it live as a
free and sovereign country? Who is the United States trying to
fool?

"If this mad and brutal Israeli killing and destruction in all
Lebanese villages, cities, and regions with smart bombs and
other prohibited weapons of destruction, and the use of the veto
to obstruct the adoption of any international resolution against
the Zionist entity and its crimes, and the attempts to save
Israel and turn the defeat of the Biblical-American plan in
Lebanon under the blows of the valiant resistance into a victory
for the two allies, giving them gains they failed to achieve in
the war -- if all this does not embody the blind racist hatred
toward Lebanon and the [Arab] nation in general and does not

reflect a strong desire to see them vanish, then what is it
called? Is it an expression of friendship and part of the
alleged and promised support for this country?

"White House officials and their partners in Tel Aviv have been
pursuing a policy of lies, hypocrisy, and deception and waging
reckless and aggressive wars that have brought nothing but
disasters and inflamed feelings of hatred and hostility toward
the United States and its spoiled monster, Israel....

"The Lebanese and Arabs do not need this deadly American
love.... Arabs must use their pressure cards to ward off the
fateful danger and to defend honor and dignity.... Homelands are
safeguarded not through friendships with and subservience to the
United States, but by adopting the option of resistance."

--------------------------------

"The Illusion of a New Middle East"

--------------------------------

Ali Sawahah, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote
(8/11): "Why is the new Middle East plan doomed to failure...?

"First, the proponents of the new Middle East rely on the
arrogance of power, which will not be acceptable to the peoples
of the region, as the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Lebanon have proven.... Second, the plan does not address the
root-causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict.... Third, the United
States lacks the most fundamental standards of integrity and
neutrality.... Washington is not only biased toward Israel, but
is also a partner in the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and
Arabs....

"The resistance in Lebanon and Palestine cannot easily be
crushed because it is not a passing phenomenon.... Hizbollah and
HAMAS represent a new renaissance for the nation...."

Corbin

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