MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000672 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: IZ KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Butchering of Iraqi civilians worrying" the independent weekly "Business Tribune" dedicated its April 3 editorial to describing the United States-led war against Iraq as "one big- enterprise in manslaughter." Excerpts: ¶2. "The description by a wounded British soldier who survived friendly fire last weekend should give everybody an insight into how painful war is. . . Thousands and thousands of Iraqi women and children are experiencing the pain he felt and the noise he would never want to hear again. (Lance Corporal of Horse Steven) Gerrard's cowardice is obvious. He does not wish to experience the pain of war while inflicting it on innocent civilians. This unfortunately has become the character of the coalition's invasion of Iraq. American soldiers especially have begun to show this cowardice more and more as they kill innocent civilians trying to run away from the conflict. Their cowboy-style checkpoint shootings show a cowardly approach to the war that might well turn public opinion against them. . . The war has become dirty and this had not been factored into the `shock and awe' strategy. Obviously now the invaders have crossed the Rubicon and cannot therefore retreat without their ultimate trophy, Saddam Hussein's scalp. But the world should be very worried by the butchering of innocent people. The Gerrard incident shows the invasion of Iraq is one big- enterprise in manslaughter." SULLIVAN