MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001842 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. The United States-led mission in Iraq, including a ¶U. S. proposal for a new United Nations resolution to attract more money and troops for Iraq, have again come under fire in articles published in the government-controlled mainstream newspapers. Article excerpts follow: ¶2. Under headline "Iraq chaos: Bush was forewarned" the September 8 edition of the government-controlled daily "The Herald" carried the following news analysis by Robert Fisk, in which he accuses the U. ¶S. of ignoring warnings "from sane and descent men" against any Iraq invasion. ¶3. "How arrogant was the path to war. As President (United States President George W.) Bush now desperately tries to cajole the old United Nations donkey to rescue him from Iraq. . .we are supposed to believe that no one in Washington could have guessed the future. Messrs Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair fantasized their way to war with all those mythical weapons of mass destruction and `imminent threats' from Iraq. . .and of the post- war `liberation,' `democracy' and map-changing they were going to bestow upon the region. But the record shows just how many warnings the Bush administration received from sane and decent men in the days before we plunged into this terrible adventure. . .Wasn't Iraq invaded to destroy terrorism rather than to recreate it? We were told Iraq was going to be transformed into a democracy and suddenly it's to be a battleground for more `war against terror. . . .'" ¶4. Under headline "U. S. seeks funds to prop up war against Iraq" the government-controlled weekly "The Sunday Mail" (09/07) carried the following article without any attribution on page 10: ". . .With available troops dwindling and money fast running out, the Bush administration finds itself forced to seek an international bailout for what has become a political and human catastrophe. The purpose of the U. N. resolution is to lend pseudo-legitimacy to the colonial-style U. S. occupation. It is designed to give particularly the governments of Turkey, India and Pakistan cover for deploying troops in the country. Whether such a resolution will have the desired effect remains to be seen. . . ." ¶5. Under headline "Bush's begging bowl" the same newspaper carried another article criticizing the United States call for assistance in Iraq under its ghost column "Under the Surface": "It's reality time for the Texan gunslinger in Iraq. All the American weapons of mass destruction have failed to work and in the meantime, Saddam Hussein says `hello' from somewhere in that oil-rich country. And as if that is not enough, the American and British occupation soldiers are dying in worrying numbers. If only George W. Bush had listened! Now because it's reality time, Bush suddenly realizes the importance of the U. N. and whatever he meant by international community. The ¶U. S. is spending US$4 billion of taxpayers' money on military costs in Iraq and because the resources are dwindling fast, Bush is begging for contributions from the international community to sustain the unjust war. He is even begging for experts to see how they can deal with the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Poor Bush!" SULLIVAN