Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/22/02

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=CQ IRAQ ELECTIONS/AMNESTY

NUMBER=6-12681

BYLINE=Andrew Guthrie

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

///EDS: REISSUED TO ADD ATTRIBUTION TO IRAQ ELECTION RESULTS IN FIRST GRAF OF TEXT. NO OTHER CHANGES.///

INTRO: The U-S press is pondering the latest domestic moves in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, trying to determine their true meaning. Last week, the president was unanimously reelected to a new seven year term. Shortly thereafter, presumably in celebration, he declared a general amnesty and ordered most of the nation's prisoners released from several jails.

That has given editorial writers plenty to think about and we get a sampling of the result now from _________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: In last week's Iraqi election, the Iraqi government says every single one of the more than 11-million votes cast were in favor of Saddam Hussein. In the view of The New York Times' man in Baghdad, it was an attempt on his part to warn the United States that any attack would be met with full resistance from a loyal population.

That remains very much open to other interpretations by U-S and international observers. Within a few days, Saddam Hussein ordered that most of the nation's jails be opened, and prisoners be set free. That caused a mob scene at one prison, observed by the Western media. The prisoner release is also under scrutiny by the American press. We begin our sampling in New York City, with the country's preeminent financial daily, The Wall Street Journal.

VOICE: Fresh from an "election" triumph . the dictator decided to open Iraq's jails and release thousands of prisoners. His henchmen more or less ordered the Western press to observe . You can read too much into any single event, but this one has the strange, desperate air of a regime that knows its days may be numbered. No doubt Saddam intends this as one more bizarre ploy. . The prisoners will enjoy their freedom for a while, and Saddam's secret police will watch their movements and meetings before rounding them up again.

. yet the sudden, frantic nature of this exercise suggests that Saddam knows he is in trouble. He really seems to believe that his recent re-election will make the world think better of him .The prisoner ploy looks like a similar effort, designed to show he is a popular, compassionate leader. Instead both reveal how out of touch with reality he is.

TEXT: That editorial analysis from New York's Wall Street Journal.

In Iowa, The Des Moines Register calls the unanimous election: ". a show, put on by the Iraqi government, and any comparison to democracy is an insult to countries where fair elections are conducted."

The Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma adds sarcastically that Saddam Hussein's victory was by ". a comfortable margin."

TEXT: For the view from Wisconsin, we check the editorial page of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

VOICE: Last week . Saddam Hussein staged two phony events accompanied by official explanations that, under other circumstances, might be faintly amusing. First . Iraq's master puppeteer staged an election in which he got 100 percent of the vote - - from every single one of Iraq's [more-than] 11-million eligible voters . Then, declaring himself "the holder of the bucket" containing "clear and sweet water from the well," Hussein declared an amnesty and virtually emptied his prisons in gratitude for the election victory.

TEXT: The Milwaukee paper goes on to suggest that as these acts suggest, not only Iraq, but also many other of the 22-member Arab league nations lack political freedom, practice the repression of women and suffer from social and political isolation.

In Ohio, The Cincinnati Post considers the prisoner release just another "bizarre gesture" from a master of the art form.

VOICE: Saddam Hussein has a well-honed knack for the bizarre gesture, and Sunday's was truly weird. [He] . abruptly emptied Iraq's prisons, granting amnesty to all but those convicted of spying for the United States and Israel. What was meant to be a controlled release became a stampede - - some prisoners were trampled to death - - when as many as 100-thousand to 150-thousand prisoners bolted for the exits.

The speculation is that Saddam was trying to earn international and domestic support for his stand against U-S and U-N demands he disarm. If so, that suggests he should get out of the bunker more often. The gesture will only reinforce international opinion that he's a dangerous nutcase, [Editors: "psychologically unstable person"] and his own people are unlikely to be overwhelmed with gratitude for the release of tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, robbers and pickpockets into their midst.

TEXT: Excerpts from a Cincinnati [Ohio] Post editorial. And lastly, from Salt Lake City, Utah, and The Deseret News, daily paper owned by the Mormon Church, the suggestion that what Saddam Hussein was trying to accomplish had an unintended consequence.

VOICE: Anyone who still harbors the notion that Iraqi citizens will fight united to the end in defense of Saddam Hussein must have gotten a reality check over the weekend. When Saddam announced his general amnesty for virtually all the nation's prisoners, the mob that assembled outside the Abu Ghraib prison started what looked like a traditional anti-American rally. They chanted praises to their dictator and shouted "Down Bush!" But, as The New York Times reported, the mood changed once it became clear the prisoners could bust through the gates without any resistance from guards. One guard turned toward an American photographer, smiled, stuck a thumb up and said, "Bush! Bush!"

. The prison scenes gave Iraqis a taste of the power they can wield when united in a cause. Saddam no doubt initiated this release in an effort to boost his popularity at home while demonstrating his humanity abroad. But the effect may have been quite different. People in Iraq may now have a newfound confidence that could hasten the collapse of Saddam's regime if U-S forces attack.

TEXT: On that note from Utah's Deseret News in Salt Lake City, we conclude this editorial sampling on the latest acts of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

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