MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000067 SIPDIS FOR INR/R/MR AND AF/PDPA DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "War on Iraq a threat to world peace and security" the independent "Daily News" dedicated its January 9 editorial to discouraging the United States from using force against Iraq, saying "going to war with Iraq does definitely endanger world peace because it has the potential to spark a Third World War." Excerpts: ¶2. "Since the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, the U. S. Government has, through its `war against terrorism' campaign, behaved as if it is entitled to attack any country it perceives to pose a threat to its own security, and to a lesser degree, that of the world at large. Its military campaign against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was a direct response to what was obviously an embarrassing humiliation for a country that is the undisputed superpower of the world in both economic and military terms. It has been said that the manner in which the U. S. security apparatus was caught napping on 11 September 2001 was almost like a re- enactment of its Pearl Harbor humiliation by Japan nearly 62 years ago. Opinions vary on the success or otherwise of Washington's Afghanistan campaign, especially considering that the U. S. failed in what was its second biggest mission: to capture, dead or alive, Osama bin Laden, believed to be the chief architect of the 11 September infamy. But that, perhaps, is neither here nor there as the U. S. probably found sufficient consolation in its success in removing from power one of the most intolerant regimes ever to rule an Asian country. It must have been that success which gave George W. Bush the idea that might was right and that the U. S. was entitled, as the world's only superpower, to remove from office any individual or regime that refused to do its bidding. ¶3. "The U. S. administration's obsession with removing Saddam Hussein from power through the use of force smacks of that same notion - might is right. This has not always been true and Bush must be quickly disabused of that notion. It is a dangerous idea that seriously threatens world peace. And British Prime Minister Tony Blair's strangely enthusiastic, almost lavish, support for that idea is deplorable, to say the least. Former South African President Nelson Mandela may no longer be in power, but the fact remains that he is probably still the most respected opinion maker in the world. And Mandela has come out openly against America's dangerous ultimatum that it will attack Iraq unless it satisfies itself that all plants in that country suspected to be used to produce weapons of mass destruction are dismantled. No sane person could argue in favor of Iraq being allowed to produce those weapons, especially given Saddam's questionable judgment of events in the past. Nevertheless, cognizance must be taken of the real danger to world peace that an attack on Iraq might pose. While Iraq's weapons production program may constitute a danger, real or imagined, to the U. S. 's national security, it does not necessarily follow that it poses a danger to world peace. On the other hand, if the chilling truth be told, going to war with Iraq does definitely endanger world peace because it has the potential to spark a Third World War. So far, only the British government has come out openly in full support of Bush's declared intention to wage war against Iraq. No other nation has shown much enthusiasm over the idea. And all indications are that public opinion in both Britain and the U. S. is largely against the idea. That fact alone, if nothing else, should have been sufficient to make both Bush and Blair reconsider their positions on Iraq. . .There must be other means, other than going to war, of ensuring that Iraq does not produce those weapons." SULLIVAN