Media Reaction: Bush Inauguration, Iraq;Dhaka

UNCLAS DHAKA 000326 SIPDIS FOR I/FW, B/G, IIP/G/NEA-SA, B/VOA/N (BANGLA SERVICE) STATE FOR SA/PAB, SA/PPD (LSCENSNY, SSTRYKER),SA/RA, INR/R/MR, AND PASS TO USAID FOR ANE/ASIA/SA/B (WJOHNSON) CINCPAC FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR, J51 (MAJ TURNER),J45 (MAJ NICHOLLS) USARPAC FOR APOP-IM (LTC HEDRICK) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OIIP OPRC KPAO PREL ETRD PTER ASEC BG OCII SUBJECT: Media Reaction: Bush Inauguration, Iraq;Dhaka Summary: English Daily "New Age" opines that the Bush administration should rely more on diplomacy in the coming second term. "The Daily Star" another English newspaper comments that Iraqi elections will need more than votes to create a real democracy. -------------- ¶1. BUSH INAUGURATION -------------- "Of Two Presidential Inaugurations" Independent English language newspaper "New Age" editorially comments (1/25/05): Two presidential inaugurations in the past few days have naturally aroused two different kinds of feeling around the globe. The thousands of people who decided to demonstrate in protest at the inaugural ceremonies for the re-elected George W. Bush were clearly speaking for a very large number of people the world over. Mr. Bush's zeal about making the world safer for America and its friends has not diminished at all since his victory last November. President Bush, assuming he has his eye on history, will need to demonstrate that after a first term given over to military might, he is ready to apply diplomacy in the pursuit of American interests. A failure to do that will prove incalculably damaging for the man or woman who will succeed him in January 2009. -------------- ¶2. Iraq -------------- "Iraq Elections And Thereafter" English daily "The Daily Star" op-ed article by former Bangladeshi Ambassador Kazi Anwarul Masud said (01/25/05): However tragic, despicable and morally reprehensible the 9/11 terrorist attacks might have been, people throughout the world will always wonder if the retribution for the 9/11 carnage needed the destruction of one of the oldest civilizations of the world based on grounds which have now proved to be totally baseless. If the Bush administration wishes to usher in a wave of democratization in the broader Middle East and North Africa, then the White House may be in for disappointment. Western thinkers are unanimous in their belief that building blocks for a modern democratic political culture are not elections, parties and legislatures. Rather building blocks are supportive cultural values -- political trust, social tolerance, basic political liberties and gender equality. Thomas