MEDIA REACTION - NEW US IRAQ POLICY - TOKYO

UNCLAS TOKYO 000135

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - NEW US IRAQ POLICY - TOKYO


LEAD STORIES: Friday morning's moderate Tokyo Shimbun
front-paged a press conference Thursday by Secretary of
State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates at the White
House. The daily said that Gates, referring to the new US
Iraq policy, disclosed that he proposed to President Bush
that the ARMY bolster its ranks by 65,000 and the Marines
by 27,000 over the next five years to deal with a
prolonged fight against terrorism.


1. "Is New US Iraq Policy a Turning Point?" The top-
circulation, moderate Yomiuri editorialized (1/12):
"...President Bush announced a new Iraq policy, which
calls for the deployment of an additional 21,500 troops.
The question is whether this new plan will actually work,
as the situation in Iraq is deteriorating rapidly. More
than 23,000 Iraqis lost their lives in 2006 to sectarian
violence, with nearly 80 percent of those deaths
occurring in the latter half of the year. The US military
death toll has also climbed past 3,000 since the start of
the war. The new Iraq policy was presented as a remedy to
this difficult situation.... The latest opinion poll in
the US showed that 61 percent of Americans oppose sending
additional troops, while only 36 percent approve.... Amid
these unfavorable conditions, the president will have to
prove that the new plan will be effective."


2. "New US Iraq Policy Fraught with Uncertainties" An
editorial in the business-oriented Nihon Keizai commented
(1/12): "President Bush has announced his new Iraq
policy. While the new policy calls for the dispatch of
more than 20,000 additional US troops to improve Iraq's
security, it also seeks to have the Iraqi government take
the lead, with Bush saying that 'America's commitment is
not open-ended.'... Although the president wanted to show
Americans light at the end of the tunnel, no one has been
able to come up with a means of breaking the deadlock in
Iraq. Most of the goals spelled out in the new policy are
simply targets for efforts to be made. The new Iraq
policy is fraught with dilemmas and uncertainties."


3. "Dispatch of Additional Troops a Dangerous Gamble" The
liberal Asahi editorialized (1/12): "President Bush's
live TV address was reminiscent of the speech made by
then President Nixon announcing a plan to escalate the US
military commitment to bring an end to the quagmire that
was the Vietnam War. Bush acknowledged mistakes in the
Iraq war, saying: 'Where mistakes have been made, the
responsibility rests with me.' Nonetheless, he disclosed
plans to send more than 20,000 additional troops to
bolster the 130,000 already in Iraq and did not touch on
the timing of a withdrawal.... We regard the troop surge
as a dangerous gamble. The White House has so far sent
additional troops to Iraq on three occasions, each time
proving unsuccessful. The president would like to say
that this is America's last chance. But the past four
years should have made clear that Iraq cannot be
reconstructed via military force alone. In some respects,
the US military presence itself is behind the
deteriorating situation.... The US was forced into a
shameful withdrawal from Vietnam. Will the same thing
happen again in Iraq?"

DONOVAN