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Arabic TV critiques Bush's speech
(CNN) -- As President Bush addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, his words and image were simultaneously broadcast to Arabic television viewers. Two networks -- Qatar-based satellite station Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya, in the United Arab Emirates -- were among the stations offering Arabic translations of the entire speech to viewers across Iraq. Both networks noted that they saw nothing new in Bush's speech. On Al-Jazeera, an announcer summarized the speech this way: "[Bush] tried to link the fight against terrorism from 9/11 to his actions in Afghanistan and Iraq to the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which is more proof that terrorism hurts everyone in the world community. "It's a reminder that there is no middle ground between aiding terrorism and fighting it. And that the terrorists shouldn't have friends in this assembly. It is a clear threat and the reminder of the American position on you're either with us or against us." On Al Arabiya, an expert on Middle East affairs, analyzed the speech shortly after Bush finished speaking. "[Osama] bin Laden and Mullah [Mohammed] Omar are still at large, so is the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein," the analyst told viewers. "The Palestinian issue faces huge problems. [Bush] didn't mention North Korea, he didn't mention Iran even though he spoke about the importance of stopping nuclear proliferation. Instead of addressing all of these failures, he stressed his victories." The Arab media followed the pattern of U.S. media in dissecting the speech, talking about Bush's tone of voice, his posture and his demeanor. Also, it was noted that Bush did not mention by name the president of the Iraqi Governing Council even though Ahmed Chalabi attended the speech. There has been a lot of criticism over that point. Chalabi is seen as a sort of hero of the mission in Iraq. Analysts speculated that Chalabi wasn't mentioned by name because there could be a drift between him and Bush. Arabic networks filled the television screen with crawls and side panels filled with additional information, just as American television networks do. Messages translated and broadcast by Arabic editors included, "We will switch the Middle East to democracy after our success in Iraq." The message sent to Arabic viewers was that the United States intends to convert all of the Middle East to democracy, one nation at a time. The idea is that the war in Iraq is the start of a longer campaign. Another bit of information in the scrolling ticker was "Arab nations must not support terrorism," and "Israel has to create the right atmosphere for the creation of a Palestinian state."
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