Jordan’s king warns US over Iraq
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has made the United States unpopular in the Middle East, Jordan’s King Abd Allah II has said.
Addressing the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Friday at the start of an American tour, King Abd Allah said images of the Iraq invasion were spelling a public relations disaster for the US.
“They turn on the TV and they see an Israeli tank in a tank battle with ordinary Palestinians. The programme changes and they see an American tank facing Iraqi people,” he said.
Growing animosity
“This has created for the first time that I have felt in the Middle East … some sort of animosity that I never felt or heard about towards the United States,” the monarch said.
King Abd Allah said he was deeply concerned about how images of the Iraq war affected the man in the streets.
“The feeling that is being felt toward the United States around the region and around the world is not a healthy one,” he said. “At the end of the day, you are being held responsible, rightly or wrongly.”
The king said a way to undo the sentiments was to resolve the situation in Iraq and to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“You have to go to the roots of these problems,” he said. “Unless we solve the Israeli-Palestinian, the Israeli-Arab issue, then none of us will ever be safe.”