Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SAOPAULO7
2007-01-04 10:49:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ: SADDAM'S DEATH; AFRICA: SOMALIA; SAO
how-toVZCZCXYZ0004 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHSO #0007 0041049 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 041049Z JAN 07 FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6231 INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7313 RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7688 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2668
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000007
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
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: SADDAM'S DEATH; AFRICA: SOMALIA; SAO
PAULO
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000007
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
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: SADDAM'S DEATH; AFRICA: SOMALIA; SAO
PAULO
1. "Saddam And The Hanging"
Columnist Carlos Heitor Cony wrote in liberal, largest national
circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (1/4): "Except for the US and
the UK, the supporters of the Western civilization, apparently all
other nations have condemned Saddam Hussein's execution.... I oppose
the death penalty, but we should respect the laws of a nation that
is currently more or less sovereign as is the case of Iraq. There is
the death penalty for murderers there, and Saddam was a murderer....
Regardless of how much worse he has been - and Saddam was the worst
in many aspects - he deserved the respect that every culprit is
entitled to. His enemies both inside and outside Iraq had already
lynched him morally, in addition to having submitted him to a
controversial trial. He could not be acquitted.... But [the hanging]
was a barbarism, a medieval rite and a violent aggression against
the sensitivities of a civilized world."
2. "A 6th US Army For Africa"
Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris
correspondent Giles Lapouge commented (1/4): "The Pentagon is
considering the creation of a new military command to operate only
in Africa, a 6th US Army.... Why? For two reasons. The first is that
Somalia continues to be a weak nation. The 'Muslims' have fled, but
they continue around, in a lawless area in the Somalia-Kenya border.
In addition, the Ethiopian soldiers who expelled the Muslims are
hated by the Somali population.... The second reason is more
profound. The Americans fear that the Islamic insanity will
contaminate that continent, especially the Horn of Africa region.
They fear that lawless states such as Somalia become a sanctuary for
Al Qaeda. That would represent an enormous risk for the West, mainly
because the Horn of Africa is a necessary passage for international
oil traffic. If Washington is so concerned with the possibility of
Islamism installing itself in that area it is because it has already
received significant warnings.... Such reasons have led Washington
to create this 6th Army. The Pentagon's spokesperson, Joe Carpenter,
announced the goal: 'To prevent the creation of another
Afghanistan'.... Everything indicates that the recent intervention
by Ethiopian troops in Somalia had the support of US reconnaissance
aircraft."
Wolfe
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
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: SADDAM'S DEATH; AFRICA: SOMALIA; SAO
PAULO
1. "Saddam And The Hanging"
Columnist Carlos Heitor Cony wrote in liberal, largest national
circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (1/4): "Except for the US and
the UK, the supporters of the Western civilization, apparently all
other nations have condemned Saddam Hussein's execution.... I oppose
the death penalty, but we should respect the laws of a nation that
is currently more or less sovereign as is the case of Iraq. There is
the death penalty for murderers there, and Saddam was a murderer....
Regardless of how much worse he has been - and Saddam was the worst
in many aspects - he deserved the respect that every culprit is
entitled to. His enemies both inside and outside Iraq had already
lynched him morally, in addition to having submitted him to a
controversial trial. He could not be acquitted.... But [the hanging]
was a barbarism, a medieval rite and a violent aggression against
the sensitivities of a civilized world."
2. "A 6th US Army For Africa"
Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris
correspondent Giles Lapouge commented (1/4): "The Pentagon is
considering the creation of a new military command to operate only
in Africa, a 6th US Army.... Why? For two reasons. The first is that
Somalia continues to be a weak nation. The 'Muslims' have fled, but
they continue around, in a lawless area in the Somalia-Kenya border.
In addition, the Ethiopian soldiers who expelled the Muslims are
hated by the Somali population.... The second reason is more
profound. The Americans fear that the Islamic insanity will
contaminate that continent, especially the Horn of Africa region.
They fear that lawless states such as Somalia become a sanctuary for
Al Qaeda. That would represent an enormous risk for the West, mainly
because the Horn of Africa is a necessary passage for international
oil traffic. If Washington is so concerned with the possibility of
Islamism installing itself in that area it is because it has already
received significant warnings.... Such reasons have led Washington
to create this 6th Army. The Pentagon's spokesperson, Joe Carpenter,
announced the goal: 'To prevent the creation of another
Afghanistan'.... Everything indicates that the recent intervention
by Ethiopian troops in Somalia had the support of US reconnaissance
aircraft."
Wolfe