MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002387

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAN, WHA/PDA
WHITE HOUSE PASS NSC/WEUROPE; NSC/WHA
E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP OPRC CA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ

IRAQ

1. "Bittersweet liberty"
Andre Pratte editorialized in Montreal's centrist
French language daily La Presse (8/20): "...No one
knows who is trying to put a spoke in the American's
wheel...but one thing is certain, their macabre task
will be rendered easier by the fact that they will find
support among the general population. This is why the
head of the provisionary government in Iraq, Paul
Bremmer, must do everything in his power to win over
the hearts of the Iraqis, if it's not already too
late.... The American invasion was based on a
simplistic vision of the world, the Middle East and
Iraq. George Bush dreamed of killing four birds with
one stone: Get rid of Saddam Hussein, weaken
international terrorism, create a liberal democracy in
the heart of the Arab nation and achieve a breakthrough
toward peace in Palestine. Yesterday's events show
that, for three out of the four, the President is still
very far from his goal."


2. "Complicated Middle-East"
Serge Truffaut commented in Montreal's
intellectual/nationalist French-language daily Le
Devoir (8/19): "...Viera de Mello made a comment less
than a month after his nomination that is now as much
enlightening as it is topical. He estimated that the
United Nations were in `a bizarre situation' in Iraq
because they are playing second fiddle behind two of
its members, namely the United States and Great
Britain.... In point of fact, however, if the UN
Security Council saluted the provisional government in
Iraq, it never recognized it. But it seems that this
has convinced some Iraqi opponents to attack directly
U.N. officials and their leader. They must perceive the
U.N. as an ally of Washington and London. A junior
ally but an ally nonetheless."


3. "Wrong target"
Pierre Jury editorialized in Ottawa's only French-
language daily Le Droit (8/21): "...Thousands of Iraqis
are opposed to the American-British presence in their
country. This should not surprise us. Some are loyal to
Saddam Hussein and will fight to the death for him.
Others are simply nationalists who do not accept the
strong-arm method used by the Americans to invade their
country, or the rationale used to justify it. The U.N.
is not the United States. The U.N. is not an invader:
The terrorists who killed do not have the capacity to
discern between the two.... So long as these monolithic
thoughts persist in Iraq, peace will remain a distant
illusive objective."

CELLUCCI