A roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers September 28.
Findings of US intelligence report obvious
A commentary in the London-based ASharq Al Awsat said it did not understand the secrecy surrounding an American intelligence report that said the war on Iraq increased terrorism.
The commentary in the Saudi-owned daily added this is a conclusion that is obvious to everyone, insisting that if the Arab terrorist elements tried to enter Iraq during the days of Saddam Hussein's reign, they would have been executed before being allowed to use their weapons, "since there was no tolerance for thought, extremism or even religiousness."
It said while it was true that most of the days ruled by Saddam were free of terrorism, after the fall of his regime, the US authority in Iraq, led at the time by Paul Bremmer, laid off half a million Iraqi troops, in addition to the security services who had all the intelligence information of all movements inside Iraq.
"And because of that, Iraq became a terrorist farm," it commented. The commentary in the paper, distributed in many Arab capitals, argued that while it is strange for the US intelligence agencies to take so long to come to such a conclusion, it was also strange to oversimplify the matter by claiming that "terrorism would not have been if it weren't for Iraq."
It said Al Qaeda existed before the war on Iraq, but that the war in Iraq expanded its activities, attracted more volunteers and provided it with the necessary promotion.
"But to think that extremism and terrorism would not have been dominant in the past three years is wrong," the paper stressed, "for terrorism was not born in Iraq and is not contained there today."
World fed up with US policies
The United Arab Emirates' Al Khaleej commented there was a big contradiction between the recent US intelligence report and President George Bush's comments on terrorism and Iraq.
The daily said in its editorial the motives of the intelligence services were to portray the reality in order to form policies in the interests of the United States, while Bush speaks out in the interests of his party alone.
It added the report acknowledges that war only fuels terrorism and is a de facto condemnation of the war on Iraq, saying that Bush's continued denial of this fact is no longer useful for him.
The American people, like the rest of the world, don't need a report to confirm that the US administration's policy gives birth to terrorism, it opined.
The pro-government paper insisted that the world's countries, friends and foes, are fed up with Washington's policies and should publicly try to obstruct these policies that harm their interests.
West waging war against Islam
Algeria's Al Khabar blasted Pope Benedict XVI for trying to express "respect for the Muslims after he insulted the prophet of Islam."
The mass-circulation daily said when the pope recently met with some ambassadors from Muslim countries, he was trying to "fool" them with diplomatic words and might be ready to spend money on a campaign to explain what he meant, but he clearly showed he has no intention to apologize.
It complained that the new order after 9/11 five years ago has been reduced to religious sentiments, "where religion has become the direct tool and cause...and the Christian West is involved in a war against Islam in the name of fighting international terrorism."
The paper, which describes itself as independent, said the Western world's politicians are now portraying Islam as the present and future threat through sound bites from President Bush, who coined the term "Islamic fascism," and from the pope, who described Prophet Mohammad and his teachings as evil and inhuman.
Review of Arab Editorials
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