MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001447

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 ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE



1. Under headline "MPs call for Blair to resign: Bush
hangs British PM out to dry over Iraqi nuclear
claims" the government-controlled daily "The Herald"
(07/17) carried the following opinion article by
Chris Marsden on page 9:


2. "In admitting U. S. doubts over British intelligence
reports concerning Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
(WMD),the Bush administration has deepened the
political crisis of British Prime Minister Tony
Blair. In particular, Blair has been hit by recent
statements from Washington distancing Bush from
British reports, exposed months ago as having been
based on forged documents, of Iraqi efforts to
purchase uranium from Niger. . .The willingness of
top Bush personnel to hang Blair out to dry in order
to save their own necks is a painful reminder for
the Prime Minister of the true value attached by the

U. S. to the so-called `special relationship.' It
has been made clear to Blair that whereas he is
considered a useful ally, he is still expendable.
The lesson in political duplicity provided by the
Bush administration could not have come at a worse
time for Blair. It has placed his very political
survival in question, with demands being made for
his resignation in the face of the continued failure
to find any evidence of Iraqi WMDs. . . ."

SULLIVAN