MEDIA REACTION U.S./IRAQ STANDOFF; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 002176 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION U.S./IRAQ STANDOFF; HARARE ¶1. Under title "Will the drums of war quieten?" the independent weekly "The Sunday Mirror" dedicated its September 29 editorial to encouraging President Bush to heed "international public opinion" against a unilateral attack on Iraq by the United States. Excerpts: ¶2. "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's move to allow UN arms inspectors unfettered access to his country's military facilities has deflated America's argument for an attack against him, and it appears the U.S. is increasingly losing the moral high ground on which to legitimize a unilateral strike. Already, there is dissent in the U.S. Congress, with the Democrats challenging President George Bush's proposed war, while in Britain, America's closest ally in the anti- Saddam Hussein crusade, even Labor parliamentarians have strongly argued against subordinating British foreign policy to Bush's war plans. With France, Russia and China - the other members of the powerful ¶U. N. Security Council - resisting America's war to topple Saddam Hussein, and the preponderant global anti-war sentiment, will the U.S. finally heed international public opinion and shelve its unilateralist path?." SULLIVAN