MEDIA REACTION - ATOMIC BOMB

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001644 SIPDIS FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA, EUR/RUS, EAP/CM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP KMDR KPAO OPRC PARM CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - ATOMIC BOMB ¶1. On August 3, conservative, influential Santiago newspaper "El Mercurio" (circ. 116,807) ran an editorial by international commentator Karin Ebensperger entitled, "60 Years since the Atomic Bomb." Quote: "Six decades ago, U.S. President Harry Truman gave the order to drop two atomic bombs on Japan.... The U.S. is the country of liberty and democracy. It is noteworthy that it is also the only country that has used a nuclear bomb against civilians. It was in wartime. Also, like all powers in history, Washington was forcefully exerting its foreign policy. The Manifest Destiny dictated by its founding fathers moved it to conquer two oceans, become the masters of AMERICA and attain global power status.... It has been 60 years since the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and it would be desirable for U.S. civil society to launch a major campaign explaining the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The fallout of the only wartime use of nuclear power are not underscored strongly enough. It is urgent that it be done." KELLY