MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001222 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/R/MR AND AF/PDPA DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Bombing out Iraq's ruins" the pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" dedicated its June 15 editorial to calling on the United States "to ship out" of Iraq and "hand over the country to its rightful owners" - the Iraqis. Excerpts: ¶2. ". . .While the global media was awash with images of ululating Iraqis, celebrating the removal of Saddam Hussein, there is no way they can hide from the world that Iraqis simply want the Americans to ship out. For the U. ¶S. to insist on a post-Iraq program that seeks to perpetuate their stay in and control over the country is an insult to sovereign people who wish for nothing more than to define their own existence. We register our concern over sentiments expressed by the more conservative and hawkish sections of the George W. Bush administration calling for more troops to be poured into Iraq. For, what is clear is that no amount of military presence by the Americans will quench the Iraq people's growing opposition to the continued occupation of their country. In fact, it is our view that any escalation of U. S. military presence will spur the rise of nationalist groups actively challenging the unwelcome presence of the American forces. What should inform the U. S. program on post-war Iraq is the imperative to hand over the country to its rightful owners. To argue that Iraq needs to be managed by external forces for a longer period before the Iraqis themselves mature to the task of self-governance is simply arrogant and smacks of hegemonic ulterior motives." SULLIVAN