MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001554 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA, PM, STATE FOR INL, INR/R/MR, NEA/PDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC PTER CI IZ SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ On July 19, center-left "Diario Siete" (circ. 23,000) carried a signed article by political scientist Boris Yopo entitled, "Bush's Failure in Iraq." Quote: "The strategy followed by Bush's foreign policy team (in Iraq) was wrong from the beginning. The intervention was illegal from the viewpoint of international law...and has generated greater insecurity at the global level, proof of which are the recent bombings in Madrid and London. The intervention has also added credibility to the belief in the Muslim world that the U.S. is the `great Satan' and that there is a `new Christian crusade' against Islam.... "Perhaps the main lesson from all this is that, regardless of U.S. technological and military superiority,...small groups cannot only plan attacks in their own land (Afghanistan and Iraq),but can also attack the centers of power of the U.S. and its close allies.... The fight against terrorism calls for a joint, long-term international effort...but also an end of those elements that give these groups legitimacy: unilateral interventions, the enormous social inequity that persists in many parts of the world, and support the creation of a Palestinian state and promote civilized dialogue to strengthen moderate Islamic sectors.... The situation in Iraq will take a few years to stabilize. However...it is in the interest of the international community to avoid a civil war there...by contributing to the creation of institutions and the election of authorities who have sufficient legitimacy to propose a new national project, giving room to social and religious diversity." YAMAUCHI