Cablegate: Media Reaction War with Iraq; Harare

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 000599

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS
IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR IZ ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ; HARARE

1. Under headline "What will this war achieve?" the
pro-government "Daily Mirror" dedicated its
March 24 editorial to denouncing the war against
Iraq, saying, "Instead of freeing the Iraqis, he
(President George W. Bush) is ensnaring them
into deeper poverty and distress." Excerpts:

". . .It is becoming clear that instead of
delivering the world from danger, Bush is
endangering the world more. Instead of freeing
the Iraqis, he is ensnaring them into deeper
poverty and distress. Iraq is a country already
struggling under-year-old international
sanctions, with levels of poverty having already
reached alarming proportions, according to the
U.N. A worse catastrophe is the mounting death
toll directly related to military operations.
For how long can the world afford this killing
and destruction of a city and a country that was
once the capital of the Islamic world. . .? As
we have said before, the real objectives of this
war are being ignored. President Bush himself
stated last week that the so-called allies
wanted to replace the present administration
with a U.S.-led military dictatorship before
installing a puppet government run by local
people. That is hardly the way to create a
democracy. What this will only achieve is the
looting of resources of the world's eighth
largest oil producer and boost the egos of the
Bush clan, which felt embarrassed about failing
to topple Saddam during the Gulf War. The rest
of the story is about murder and mayhem."

SULLIVAN

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