DATE=11/12/98
TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
NUMBER=6-11005
TITLE=THE COUNTDOWN TO ATTACKING IRAQ IS ON
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
CONTENT=
INTRO: THE MAJOR TOPIC ON FRONT PAGES AND IN EDITORIALS IN THE
WORLD PRESS THIS WEEK IS THE POSSIBLE ATTACK BY THE U-S AND
BRITAIN AGAINST IRAQ FOR ITS REFUSAL TO CONTINUE U-N WEAPONS
INSPECTIONS.
MANY PAPERS WERE RELUCTANTLY AGREEING THAT IRAQ'S LEADER, SADDAM
HUSSEIN, HAD ESSENTIALLY LEFT THE ALLIES NO VIABLE OPTION OTHER
THAN A MILITARY ATTACK, BUT MOST STILL DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE
WITH THE MILITARY OPTION.
WE WELCOME __________________ TO OUR MICROPHONE NOW WITH A
SAMPLING IN THIS WEEK'S WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT: ON THE ONE HAND, MANY JOURNALISTS LAMENTED THE FACT THAT
"THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS YET TO FIND AND AGREE ON AN
EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEAL WITH SADDAM." WHILE AT THE SAME TIME,
WRITERS IN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST WERE EXPRESSING
RESERVATIONS ABOUT THE USE OF FORCE AND WORRYING, AS DID ONE
ITALIAN DAILY, ABOUT WHAT IT CALLED THE "UNKNOWN FACTORS IN THE
IMMINENT U-S ATTACK...." STILL OTHERS FRETTED THAT ATTACKING
IRAQ WILL NOT BRING ABOUT THE DESIRED RESULTS, AND OTHER
COMPLAINED THAT MILITARY ACTION WILL ONLY MAKE A VERY HARD LIFE
EVEN WORSE FOR THE IRAQI PEOPLE WHO ARE INNOCENT PAWNS IN THIS
INTERNATIONAL DRAMA.
WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHERE THE INFLUENTIAL
EGYPTIAN DAILY "AL AHRAM" IN CAIRO COMMENTS:
VOICE: UNDOUBTEDLY THIS REPEATED SCENARIO [OF AMERICAN THREATS]
TO FORCE IRAQ TO COOPERATE WITH THE U-N, LIES IN THE
CONTEXT OF AMERICAN POLICIES AIMED TO MAINTAIN CONSTANT
TENSION IN THE REGION AND TO COVER REPEATED ISRAELI
VIOLATIONS OF THE PEACE DEALS AND THE UGLY FACE OF
[PRIME MINISTER] NETANYAHU. THIS BORING REPETITION
MADE ARABS LOSE CONFIDENCE IN AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD
IRAQ. NO ARAB COUNTRY IS READY TO USE ITS LAND FOR A
STRIKE AGAINST IRAQ....
TEXT: IN THE SAUDI CAPITOL, RIYADH, THE ARABIC-LANGUAGE DAILY
"AL-RIYADH" RAN THIS EDITORIAL IN THURSDAY'S [11/12] EDITIONS:
VOICE: ... CONVENTIONAL WISDOM SEES THE U-S AS A POWER WHOSE
ACTIONS DO NOT COINCIDE WITH THE LOGIC OF JUSTICE OR THE
DESIRES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THE
FORMULATION OF ITS DECISIONS....
TEXT: TURNING TO JORDAN, WE READ IN AMMAN'S "AL-ARAB AL-YAWM" A
WARNING THAT THE REST OF THE ARAB WORLD NEEDS TO SHED ITS
COMPLACENCY:
VOICE: WHEN WE COMPARE THE ARAB REACTION TO THIS NEW CRISIS
WITH THE ARAB REACTION TO THE SIMILAR CRISIS IN FEBRUARY
98, WE FIND A HUGE DIFFERENCE. ... THE WAY THE PREVIOUS
IRAQI CRISES AROSE AND DIED DOWN STRENGTHENED THE ARABS'
BELIEF THAT THIS CURRENT IRAQI CRISIS WILL BE RESOLVED
LIKE ONES BEFORE WHEN BOTH PARTIES BACK DOWN. THIS FACE
COULD PROMPT THE UNITED STATES TO RESORT TO THE MILITARY
OPTION WITHOUT HESITATION.
TEXT: AND HOW DO THEY FEEL IN ISRAEL? TEL AVIV'S "HAARETZ"
COMMENTED THURSDAY [11/12]:
VOICE: THE IMPORTANCE OF DESTROYING IRAQI NONCONVENTIONAL
WEAPONS AND MATERIAL CANNOT BE OVERESTIMATED, BUT IT IS
EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO NEUTRALIZE SADDAM'S ABILITY TO
RESUME MANUFACTURING SUCH WEAPONS. ... MILITARY ACTION
WILL ONLY MAKE SADDAM A HERO IN HIS OWN MIND AS WELL AS
IN THE MINDS OF SOME ARAB COUNTRIES -- AND WILL MAKE THE
U-S FEEL EVEN LONELIER IN ITS BATTLE AGAINST IRAQ.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: IN JORDAN'S ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PRESS, "THE JORDAN TIMES"
ALSO IN AMMAN, SEES THE VALIDITY IN BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT.
VOICE: THE SECURITY COUNCIL HAS REASON TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT
IRAQ'S REFUSAL TO COOPERATE WITH UNSCOM (UN WEAPONS
INSPECTORS). ON THE OTHER HAND, IRAQIS HAVE CAUSE FOR
CONCERN ABOUT THE SUFFOCATION OF THEIR COUNTRY FOR
NEARLY A DECADE.... THE IRAQI AUTHORITIES DID IN FACT
COOPERATE WITH UNSCOM FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THIS ...
PROVES THAT UNDER APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS THIS KIND OF
COOPERATION CAN BE RESUMED AND MAINTAINED.
TEXT: AND IN NORTH AFRICA, MOROCCO'S FRENCH-LANGUAGE
"LIBERATION" SUGGESTS THE OUTCOME IS, AT THIS POINT, ESSENTIALLY
PRE-ORDAINED.
VOICE: EVEN IF [UN SECRETARY-GENERAL] KOFI ANNAN DECIDES TO GO
TO BAGHDAD, HIS MISSION WOULD HAVE LITTLE CHANCE FOR
SUCCESS.... THE U-S ADMINISTRATION HAS ALWAYS PUT
GETTING RID OF SADDAM HUSSEIN AS A CONDITION FOR LIFTING
THE EMBARGO.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC NOW, AND ISLAMIC INDONESIA, WHERE
"SUARA PEMBARUAN" IN JAKARTA HOLDS OUT HOPE.
VOICE: A CHANCE FOR DIPLOMACY STILL EXISTS. EXPERIENCE SHOWS
THAT THE U-S HAS TWICE, MOMENTS BEFORE LAUNCHING
ATTACKS, CONVINCED IRAQ TO 'SURRENDER.' ... IT SEEMS
THAT SADDAM HAS TWO OBSESSIONS: ELIMINATION OF U-S
INTERFERENCE AND INFLUENCE, INCLUDING IN UNSCOM; AND
REMOVAL OF THE EIGHT-YEAR-OLD ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. IF
IRAQ WERE FULLY SOVEREIGN, IT WOULD BE THE MAJOR MIDDLE
EAST POWER. WITH THIS IN MIND, THE SOLUTION TO THIS
CONFLICT MUST BE WISE.
TEXT: IN KARACHI, ONE OF PAKISTAN'S BIGGEST PAPERS, "JANG"
POINTS OUT THAT:
VOICE: ... BY DESTROYING IRAQ, THE U-S WANTS TO PROVIDE
PERMANENT PROTECTION TO ISRAEL AND TO ACHIEVE THIS END,
IT IS USING THE ARABS.... TO WHAT EXTENT THE IRAQI
NATION, THE INNOCENT IRAQI CHILDREN, THE OLD PEOPLE AND
THE IRAQI WOMEN HAVE A SAY IN THESE DECISIONS? WHEN
WILL THEY GET THEIR BASIC HUMAN RIGHT TO LIVE?"
/// OPT ///
TEXT: IN NORTH ASIA, ONE OF SOUTH KOREA'S BIGGEST DAILIES,
"HANKOOK ILBO" HOLDS OUT HOPE FOR A COMPROMISE AT THE LAST
SECOND.
VOICE: ... THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT HUSSEIN WILL PERMIT
WEAPONS INSPECTIONS AT THE LAST MINUTE AS HE DID IN
OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR.
TEXT: QUICKLY TO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, WHERE KENYA'S "DAILY NATION"
IN NAIROBI OPINES:
VOICE: FROM WHATEVER ANGLE ONE LOOKS AT THE SITUATION, IT IS
PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSEIN WHO CAN HELP DEFUSE THE LATEST
TENSION IN THE GULF.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: AND IN LATIN AMERICA, BRAZIL'S HUGE "O ESTADO DE SAO
PAULO" RAN THIS FROM ITS MAN IN WASHINGTON ON THURSDAY [11/12]:
VOICE: THE NEW CHALLENGE POSED BY THE IRAQI PRESIDENT TO THE
U-S AND THE U-N LEAVES [PRESIDENT] CLINTON IN A DILEMMA.
IF HE STARTS THE BOMBING UNDER PREPARATION, HE WILL
STRENGTHEN SADDAM POLITICALLY, EVERY DAY THE IRAQI
LEADER AND HIS REGIME SURVIVE THE BOMBS IN BAGHDAD.
TEXT: FINISHING UP IN EUROPE, LONDON'S "FINANCIAL TIMES IS
CLEARLY WORRIED:
VOICE: THE CURRENT CRISIS BETWEEN SADDAM AND THE WEST IS MORE
SERIOUS THAN MANY EARLIER EPISODES. ... ALTHOUGH THERE
IS MUCH TALK IN WASHINGTON, LONDON AND PARIS ABOUT
LAUNCHING HEAVY BOMBARDMENTS THAT WOULD WEAKEN SADDAM,
NO ONE IS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING A GROUND OPERATION THAT
WOULD BRING AN END TO HIS RULE. ALL THAT MAY BE ON THE
TABLE IS THE HOPE THAT PERHAPS THE INSTABILITY PROVOKED
BY MILITARY ACTION WOULD LEAD TO A COUP.
TEXT: AND LASTLY, IN SOUTHERN GERMANY, THIS DISMAL FORECAST FROM
"SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG" OF MUNICH.
VOICE: THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS FOR THE END: WAR OR A BAD PEACE.
ONLY ONE THING IS CLEAR, THERE WILL BE NO HAPPY END.
TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF THE LATEST
REACTION TO THE IMPENDING CONFLICT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND
BRITAIN AGAINST IRAQ.
NEB/ANG/JO
12-Nov-98 4:50 PM EST (2150 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
