MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ - OPINION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000642 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPAP FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: IZ PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ - OPINION PIECES; HARARE ¶1. The March 30 editions of the government- controlled weekly "The Sunday Mail" and the pro- government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" carried a number of opinion pieces focusing on the war in Iraq. Excerpts: ¶2. Under headline "U.N. becomes irrelevant" the "The Sunday Mail" (03/30) carried the following opinion piece by William Godwin Nhara, Executive Director of the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance: ". . .The unilateral invasion of Iraq by the U.S., the United Kingdom and four others will have reverberating and long-lasting consequences. This unholy alliance has thrown the United Nations, its covenants and Charter out of the window and plunged the world body into an irrelevant body (sic) that will henceforth not have any moral voice and authority within international diplomacy and relations. . ." ¶3. Under headline "U.S., UK seek to silence Iraqis" the same newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Tafataona Mahoso: "On March 26, the U.S. and the UK authorized, carried out and tried to justify the bombing of the Iraqi television system. This act followed a similar one on April 24, 1999, when NATO forces bombed and destroyed Serbian television studios in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, killing at least 20 journalists. . . These two cases indicate that, when it suits them, the imperialist powers will not hesitate to trash their own usual slogans about free flow of information, free flow of ideas, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and freedom of the Press. . ." ¶4. Under headline "Attack on Iraq compromises U.N. peace efforts" the "Sunday Mail" (03/30) also carried an opinion piece by Clever Chirume: "The current attack on Iraq by America and Britain should be castigated as it is an assault on the world's most august institution, the United Nations. It has cast a shadow on the effectiveness of international law and the function of democracy, compromising any future united efforts for peace and stability in the world. The attack, which comes amid worldwide protests against war, legitimizes state terrorism and violates not only the human rights of the people of Iraq but also the integrity and credibility of the U.N. Security Council and all other U.N. institutions. . ." ¶5. Under headline "The U.S./UK invasion of Iraq" the pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" (03/30) carried the following op-ed: ". . .The (U.S.) National Security Strategy itself is, therefore, an attempt to provide both a justification and framework for the `Manifesto for world dictatorship.' Accordingly, the world will have to acknowledge now that the debate on Iraq in the U.N. and, indeed, even the program of weapons inspections that was attendant to it, was completely farcical on the part of a super- power already intent and prepared to invade the Arab country and thereby effect a regime change." ¶6. Under headline "And so the world turns" the same newspaper carried an opinion piece by Patricia McFadden about western media coverage of the war: ". . .All one gets is a deafening cacophony of conformist voices, screeching out the same message over and over about the might and invisibility (sic) of the `coalition' forces, and the inevitability of the fall of Baghdad. It's like playing `cowboys and Indians' - with the fore-knowledge that the cowboys must win, and there simply cannot be any other outcome to this infamy. . . ." ¶7. Under headline "The battle of hearts and minds in Baghdad" the "Sunday Mirror" (03/30) carried an opinion piece by Tendai Chari: ". . .The point is the military control of the media is immoral and a transgression of journalistic ethics. At the end of the day the news that we get is contaminated with the military's points of view. Manipulation of the media by the invading forces poses the gravest threat to media freedom and independence of the war on Iraq (sic). The bombing of the Iraq broadcasting station is further testimony that the invading forces are determined to feed the rest of the world with lies while concealing their heinous acts. . ." SULLIVAN