MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, MAY 20, 2004

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001169 SIPDIS FOR WHA/PDA, IIP/G/WHA, AND IIP/T/ES FOR PM, NEA/NGA, WHA/PPC, AND WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP PREL KPAO PGOV MOPS IZ HO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, MAY 20, 2004 ¶1. Op-ed by Ramon Villeda Bermudez (current Liberal Party Congressman and former presidential candidate) in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" on 5/20 entitled "The war in Iraq: was it worth it?" "Senator Edward Kennedy has called the war in Iraq The Bushes' Vietnam, and his definition has definitely hit the mark, because among the historical mistakes to go to war, Vietnam has been the most disgraceful mistake of the U.S., which has now been surpassed by Iraq." "The release of the images of the Iraqi prisoners being tortured in Abu Ghraib proved the lack of military leadership and the ignorance of U.S. troops about the Vienna and Geneva Conventions. They also uncovered a strange combination of sadism and homosexuality practiced by U.S. soldiers with the support of their superiors. The scandal of the new Nazis has gone beyond our imagination." "Had the Bushes expected so many problems in their Vietnam of 2004? Evidently, they believed that, after the invasion, after the justifiable lie of the presence of weapons of mass destruction (which were never found),it was all going to be a piece of cake. I believe their advisors didn't expect or care about polarizing the world or motivating a religious hatred as we've never seen before." Palmer