MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000713 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 PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "What next for 26 million Iraqis after Saddam?" the independent daily "The Daily News" dedicated its April 10 editorial to the need for the UN to be engaged in the reconstruction of Iraq. Excerpts: ¶2. "The United Nations is justified to be concerned at the future of the 26 million people of Iraq after the United States-British forces have routed Saddam Hussein and set up a `colonial' administration. The coalition seems undecided as to the role of the U.N. after the Iraqi dictatorship has finally been sent packing. It is vital for the future of the U.N. for it to be given a role in the Iraq to be rebuilt after the war. . . The world needs to restore its faith in the U.N., whose efficacy as the final arbiter of peace in the world has been sorely challenged by the U.S.-UK adventure in Iraq. . . The morality of the military action against Saddam Hussein will be debated for a long time to come, along with the new doctrine of the ¶U. S. Government of `regime change. . .' What does the future hold for what have been called `rogue regimes' which ignore everything that can conceivably be seen as allowing for the freedom to the people to exercise their inalienable rights as citizens? There are governments today, members of the U.N., who can be slotted into this category. The U.N. itself has no power to act against them, unless there is consensus for such action among the five permanent members of the Security Council. If there is no consensus, what happened to Saddam Hussein becomes an option, a dangerous option, but an option nevertheless." SULLIVAN