Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SAOPAULO117
2007-02-13 10:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ: PRESIDENT BUSH'S IRAQ SECURITY PLAN;

Tags:  KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHSO #0117 0441027
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O 131027Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6419
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7512
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7781
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2705
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000117

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STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD

DEPT PASS USTR

USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ: PRESIDENT BUSH'S IRAQ SECURITY PLAN;
SAO PAULO


"US's Historical Mistake"

Former Brazilian Ambassador to the US, Rubens Barbosa, commented in
center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo (2/13):
"The invasion of Iraq has been perhaps the biggest US foreign policy
mistake since the Vietnam War.... The current US administration has
a particular view of the conflict.... There is no doubt that the end
of the war in Iraq depends on the withdrawal of US occupation
troops.... Despite all the pre-election rhetoric, the US is expected
to remain in Iraq for the next five or ten years. The US can
neither lose the war nor leave the Middle East. As a result of that,
depending on Washington's foreign policy initiatives, the threat of
terrorist actions in the US will hardly be reduced and the other
serious problems in the region will become much more difficult to
handle.... If such a picture is confirmed over the next two years,
the price of oil will continue unstable, thereby increasing the
vulnerability of medium and small economies, and global instability
and insecurity will persist as a result of the Islamic population's
reaction. Terrorism, which has its base of action in Afghanistan and
now Iraq, will increase its threat to the international community.
Washington's support to Israel in the conflict with the Palestinians
and the US military presence in the Middle East are the main causes
of the low prospective of peace and political stability in the
region.... Even a possible US Democratic administration will hardly
be able to promote a military withdrawal in Iraq without a profound
transformation of the international scenario in the region."
McMullen