INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Media Reaction War with Iraq; Harare

Published: Thu 27 Mar 2003 10:09 AM
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS HARARE 000624
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: IZ PREL KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ; HARARE
1. Under headline "Humanitarian disaster in Iraq"
the pro-government daily "The Daily Mirror" dedicated
its March 27 editorial to urging the United Nations to
provide emergency food and medical aid to the civilian
population in Iraq. Excerpts follow:
2. ". . .The stories and reports of U. S. and
Britain carpet bombing Baghdad and other Iraq cities.
. .are graphically compelling. With `live' television
coverage of the war from the `embedded' reporters and
cameramen and women, the media have apparently
forgotten to tell us the grim realities of the other
side of the story - the immense suffering of civilian
men, women and children during the course of this war.
. . Iraqi civilians and not those from the invading
countries - are facing tremendous hardships as the war
has disrupted their access to food and water which
forces them to join hundreds of thousands of people
already displaced from their homes. . . What is
unfolding in Iraq is a humanitarian disaster of
mammoth proportions. . . Although war had been
predicted for months, donor governments and U.N.
agencies have not openly prepared for the humanitarian
emergency. . . The international community must fight
to ensure that the humanitarian needs and security of
the civilian population are taken care of to address
the humanitarian consequences of this war that could
have been avoided had sense prevailed. The U. N. must
allow Iraqis access to emergency food and medical aid.
. . If the world looks aside, the tragedy being
played in the Gulf may be too ghastly to contemplate."
SULLIVAN
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