Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=05/29/03

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=IRAQ REBUILDING

NUMBER=6-12949

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: In this week's World Opinion Roundup, we hear a collection of editorial comments about the slow and somewhat uneven stabilization of Baghdad and the rest of the country from V-O-A's __________.

TEXT: There seems to be no end to problems in post-Saddam Iraq. Crime is rampant, electricity sporadic, rubbish uncollected and unexploded bombs and ammunition pose a major risk to the population.

None of this has gone uncommented upon in the foreign press, as we find out, first in London, where the Times notes the relatively rapid recovery in the South under British forces, compared with the rest of the country.

VOICE: Before the . war, Tony Blair set the pace among those Europeans who perceived a threat from Saddam Hussein . He is now setting the pace in pushing for the reconstruction of Iraq . Mr. Blair, of course, will not want to make any overt comparisons the situation in Baghdad and the north. The capital was far more badly damaged, and although the Pentagon may have underestimated the scale of reconstruction needed, it has now grasped the urgency of restoring order, electricity, sanitation ... to the battered city.

TEXT: In Germany, there is this disquieting assessment in the Nuernberger Zeitung.

VOICE: The increasing number of attacks against U-S soldiers may mean that the occupying powers in Iraq could lose the race against time in Iraq. The dissolution of the Iraqi armed forces and the elimination of leading Baath Party functionaries ordered by civilian administrator Paul Bremer came too late.

TEXT: A much more positive report appears in Italy's Il Foglio in Milan.

VOICE: Karada Dallchill is a central road full of shops [which] . have all reopened; there is stuff to sell, a giant food supply arrived yesterday; the largest since the end of the war. Deliveries are regular now, as promised by Paul Bremer. When he says something, he takes care of it immediately or almost so.

TEXT: Greece's To Vima in Athens zooms in on the problem with finding weapons of mass destruction:

VOICE: Do you remember the formidable weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein had in store? U-N inspectors tried to find them unsuccessfully. So did the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese. They all suggested inspections continue before the war . was declared. . Then Iraq . was taken by Americans. However, weapons of mass destruction are nowhere to be found.

TEXT: As for the Portuguese view, Lisbon's Diario de Noticias says the issue of banned weapons is not significant.

VOICE: . the real objectives of the U-S . had to do with occupying a zone of great geostrategic importance (and not just because of oil). The failures of the goals that were propagandized don't matter much. Paris is well worth a mass, as Henry the Fourth said when he converted to Catholicism in order to reign.

TEXT: Turning to the Middle East, the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Watan in Abha notes:

VOICE: The occupation forces in Iraq have not yet taken serious steps toward stabilizing the country and handing over its management to the Iraqis. The U-S still regards Iraq as an occupied country and runs its affairs as if it were a mandate state. . The only solution is to allow Iraq to be governed by an Iraqi government, even if it is a temporary one.

TEXT: In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi's Al Ittihad proposes:

VOICE: Iraq still requires a serious effort to establish political and social stability and public security in order for reconstruction activities to begin. This demands the essential solidarity of U-S, U-K, Arab, and international efforts in addition to giving a vital and effective role to [the] Iraqi people.

TEXT: To Asia now, and this view of the Security Council's lifting of sanctions against Iraq, from Thailand's The Nation in Bangkok.

VOICE: The resolution is significant for two reasons. Firstly, it signals the end of acrimonious disagreement over the war in Iraq among key . Security Council members. Second, it signals the return of the U-N in performing [functions] it is best fitted to do. This will build global confidence that the situation in post-war Iraq will not deteriorate further.

TEXT: Australia's Sydney Morning Herald calls the same U-N action:

VOICE: . an important first step in reviving international co-operation.

/// REST OPTIONAL ///

TEXT: In Hong Kong, The South China Morning Post goes back to a recurring theme:

VOICE: Failure to find the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq also casts a different light on Mr. Bush's frequent allegations that the U-S was threatened with attack. The attack on Iraq was the first pre-emptive war launched by the U-S since the Bush administration announced a strategy of pre-emption last year.

TEXT: We give today's last word to the Indian daily The Asian Age, which complains:

VOICE: Americans have proved in Iraq that they are bad colonialists . They believe in the solubility of all problems and take an incorrigibly optimistic view of their world. Having won the war after a fashion, America is now coping with the consequences of its action. If anyone had any illusions about American ability to run a colony, Iraq is a bleeding example.

/// END OPT ///

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this editorial sampling from overseas on how the stabilization of Iraq is being carried out.

NEB/ANG/MAR