MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ HADITHA FTAA-

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001251

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC,
WHA/EPSC
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ HADITHA FTAA-
MERCOSUR TERRORISM US ECONOMY ARGENTINA'S SUPPORT FOR
VENEZUELA AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL 06/05/06



1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Weekend stories cover the alleged murder of Iraqi
civilians in Haditha by a group of US troops; the
consequences of the war in Iraq; the US/Latin American
relationship; FTAA/Mercosur ties; a group of Canadian
residents that were arrested for planning to blow up
targets in Ontario; the status of the US economy; and
Argentina's support for Venezuela to become a member
of the UN Security Council.

Centrist "Perfil" newspaper reports on the Webchat
with DUSTR Everett Eissenstat organized by the PAS
Section at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires.


2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES

- "With Haditha, the ghost of Vietnam returns to the
US"

Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading
"Clarin," comments (06/04) "As multiple denunciations
appear on the killing of civilians in Haditha..., the
images of another terrible massacre, that of My Lai in
Vietnam, slowly and painfully return to the mind. And
with them, the idea that history repeats itself
appears - innocent blood, cruelty, concealment,
impunity and eventually, lack of punishment for those
held responsible...

"It is not so clear yet what happened on November 19,
2005 in Haditha, but everything indicates that it was
a horrible massacre just like that of My Lai, although
to a lesser extent. Witnesses of the incident said
that after having fallen in an ambush, a group of US
marines murdered 24 civilians."

- "Haditha's massacre"

Mario Diament, contributor to daily-of-record "La
Nacion," writes (06/05) "... The circumstances that
turn this episode into a paradigmatic case of a
terribly wrong war are not merely the count of
casualties but the chain of responsibilities.

"Everything indicates that the military high command
attempted to wipe the incident in Haditha under the
ordinary listing of civil casualties in Iraq."

- "Iraq: consequences of a war without damage control"

Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading
"Clarin," writes (06/03) "... The White House is aware
that its only alternative is a way out of Iraq by
transferring the scary future of the country to an
international organization. This has not happened yet
in spite of the efforts made by US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, who has attempted to make an
alliance with European countries, which today is
crucial for Washington.

"But if this attempt seems to have an unpredictable
result, Washington has been trying to build some
bridge to Iran, certain that the Persian theocracy
currently has the greatest real influence on Iraq.
Actually, war has done nothing but increase Tehran's
political power in the region. It is under this light
that one should analyze Rice's latest proposal that
the USG should hold direct negotiations with the
Iranian government. However, it is a 'lame' attempt
because of the US impossibility to renounce its demand
for Iraq to abandon its nuclear plan."

- "Northern misconduct"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by
contributor Norberto Firpo, who writes (06/03)
"Woodrow Peribaez, one of US President Bush's
advisors on Latin American affairs, takes four Prozac
per day...

"The reason is that the White House handles Latin
American affairs with the expertise and subtlety of
Steven Spielberg's dinosaurs at a bazaar.

"According to Peribaez, 'without having made a point


of it, Bush has managed to make rebel politicians
proliferate in our hemisphere's backyard to make
public their anti-US feeling... Chattering Venezuelan
Hugo Chavez has become an authoritative voice in the
e
region, and even Mexican Vicente Fox, formerly a
friend, got angry because we have built a bordering
wall, which is seen as a sign of discord.'"

- "The US wants to include Mercosur in FTAA
negotiations"

Lucas Morando, columnist of centrist "Perfil"
newspaper, writes (06/04) "Seven months after the Mar
del Plata SOA, in which the FTAA project showed signs
of weakness and entered an impasse, the USG insists
now on resuming talks among the 34 countries of the
hemisphere.

"During a Webchat organized by the USG for the
journalists of the region, USTR Everett Eissenstat was
the last USG official in charge of conveying this
message. Asked by 'Perfil' newspaper, he said the USG
'looks forward to start discussing the road to the
FTAA with every country of the region, including
Argentina and Brazil.'

"... In spite of this explicit willingness of the USG
to put the FTAA on a safe track again, the four
Mercosur countries and Venezuela, which refused to
make progress on FTAA negotiations, still hold this
position and are expecting the outcome of the Doha
multilateral meeting.

"According to an Argentine official source, if, in
this context, countries do not show a flexible
attitude regarding the reduction or removal of farm
subsidies, the region will not make progress on FTAA
discussions."

- "No terrorist conspiracy"

Gwynne Dyer, contributor to liberal, English-language
"Buenos Aires Herald," writes (06/05) "They arrested
seventeen alleged Islamist terrorists in and around
Toronto on Saturday, most of them young and Canadian-
born...

"... Any terrorist attack on Canada is bound to be
home-grown, because there is no shadowy but powerful
network of international Islamist terrorists waging a
war against the West. There are isolated small groups
of extremists who blow things up once in a while, and
there are Web sites and other media through which they
can exchange ideas and techniques, but there is no
headquarters, no chain of command, no organization
that can be defeated, dismantled and destroyed."

- "The US, focus of globalization"

Centrist "Perfil" newspaper carries an opinion piece
by Jorge Castro, political analyst, who writes (06/04)
"The engine of the overall boom in the world economy
is the US economic impetus. The US economy has grown
at a vibrant pace of 5.3% in the first three months of
the year, the highest point during the last two and a
half years.

"Most analysts predict that there will be a new
correction of this percentage, which will bring the
growth rate of the first quarter beyond 6% per year.
The reason for this optimism is an unexpected
reduction in the US trade deficit... plus a more
significant reduction of its fiscal deficit...

"The US economic cycle determines that of the world
economy and the pace of its growth sets that of the
entire world economy. Under these circumstances,
globalization is still an essentially American
phenomenon, which has opened to the emerging world
(Asia-Pacific Ocean/China) during the last 15 years.

"In brief, globalization is today a global phenomenon
rooted in the US. This is precisely the view of the
Chinese government. According to May 26 Beijing's
Newspaper of the People's editorial (official


newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party)... 'If one
judges from the point of view of world macroeconomic
balance, under globalization, the huge US trading
deficit means that gigantic savings of the entire
world are used by the US economy.'

"... The paper underscores that 'the world is divided
into two sectors - one, the US, with its gigantic
trading deficit, and the other, the rest of the world,
which contributes its savings to it.'"

- "Argentina will support Venezuela at the UN"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" (06/05) reports
"(Argentine) Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana confirmed
that Argentina will support Venezuela's candidacy to
become a member of the strategic UN Security Council.

"... Argentina supported Hugo Chavez's aspirations in
spite of US pressures for the region to choose
Guatemala and, particularly, to prevent the Venezuelan
president from becoming a member of the UN Security
Council, which has to make crucial international
policy decisions."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

GUTIERREZ