MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, JULY 11, 2003

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001652 SIPDIS FOR WHA/PDA (BUCKLEY),WHA/CEN, PD TASK FORCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP PREL KPAO PGOV IZ HO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, JULY 11, 2003 ¶1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" on 7/11 entitled "The situation in Iraq and our soldiers". "The death of three American soldiers yesterday confirms that the Iraqi resistance against the invasion is getting stronger, increasing the insecurity for foreign troops and the concern for Washington and London. This concern should also be shared by the Third World countries sending troops to Iraq, like Honduras." "Beyond the moral and legal implications of contributing to the occupation of a sovereign territory after a war that wasn't approved by the U.N., sending our soldiers to Iraq considering the current circumstances is exposing those fellow countrymen to an unnecessary risk, backing a cause that it is far from being fair or humanitarian." "Even accepting that we obviously depend on the world's superpower and that our governments are extremely willing to fulfill the wishes of Uncle Sam, even those that go against international law, this time we should wait that a civil government takes over in Iraq and the U.N. organizes a real pacification force before sending our troops. This will calm down the Iraqi resistance and provide the moral and legal justification to send our soldiers. Meanwhile, let the British and Americans pay the price of the invasion." Palmer