This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001169
SIPDIS
FOR WHA/PDA, IIP/G/WHA, AND IIP/T/ES
FOR PM, NEA/NGA, WHA/PPC, AND WHA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP PREL KPAO PGOV MOPS IZ HO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, MAY 20, 2004
1. Op-ed by Ramon Villeda Bermudez (current Liberal Party
Congressman and former presidential candidate) in
Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" on 5/20
entitled "The war in Iraq: was it worth it?" "Senator
Edward Kennedy has called the war in Iraq The Bushes'
Vietnam, and his definition has definitely hit the mark,
because among the historical mistakes to go to war, Vietnam
has been the most disgraceful mistake of the U.S., which has
now been surpassed by Iraq."
"The release of the images of the Iraqi prisoners being
tortured in Abu Ghraib proved the lack of military
leadership and the ignorance of U.S. troops about the Vienna
and Geneva Conventions. They also uncovered a strange
combination of sadism and homosexuality practiced by U.S.
soldiers with the support of their superiors. The scandal
of the new Nazis has gone beyond our imagination."
"Had the Bushes expected so many problems in their Vietnam
of 2004? Evidently, they believed that, after the invasion,
after the justifiable lie of the presence of weapons of mass
destruction (which were never found), it was all going to be
a piece of cake. I believe their advisors didn't expect or
care about polarizing the world or motivating a religious
hatred as we've never seen before."
Palmer