Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=03/18/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=BUSH ULTIMATUM

NUMBER=6-12868

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

[DUE TO THE LARGE VOLUME OF EDITORIALS, THERE IS NO DUPLICATION HERE WITH EDITORIALS QUOTED IN TODAY'S U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST [6-12867]

INTRO: President Bush's ultimatum to Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave the Iraq within 48 hours or be prepared for an attack has riveted the attention of the U-S press. We get a further sampling of comments now from V-O-A's _____________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: President Bush addressed the American people Monday night explaining once again the rationale for a war with Iraq. He also called on the Iraqi military not to fight; and for Iraqis not to destroy their own infrastructure. With war only hours away, U-S papers are filled with comment on both sides of the issue. In the deep South, Alabama's Mobile Register says:

VOICE: As long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, especially without proof that he has destroyed huge quantities of known chemical and biological agents, he is and always will be a threat to his own people, to his neighbors, and to the world. For all those reasons [his] regime must be destroyed.

TEXT: Hawaii's Honolulu Advertiser remains concerned over how Iraq will be rebuilt:

VOICE: How many troops and how much effort will be required to keep the peace in Iraq once the war has been won? This could take a generation. What are our long-range intentions? . And how will the rest of the world react to this. near-unilateral, use of American might? . a short, surgical and successful war is only the first part of what is to come.

TEXT: Ohio's Cleveland Plain Dealer writes about "Lurching toward war":

VOICE: . the president seems to hold a clear vision that disarming Iraq now will, over the long term, bring increased stability to the region and the world. He may be right. But our fear is [he] underestimates the short-term global consequences that will flow from this devaluation of diplomacy.

TEXT: Still in the Midwest, Wisconsin's Milwaukee Journal suggests that on one "critical point" the president is right:

VOICE: Either the U-N stands for something and enforces its resolutions or it ceases to [be] an effective vehicle for dealing with significant conflicts between. nations. Resolution 1441, approved in a 15-0 vote by the Security Council . promised "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to [disarm].

TEXT: The Texas daily in San Antonio, The Express-News, while giving the conflict a historical perspective, is generally supportive.

VOICE: .the potential conflict against Iraq is particularly complicated because, other than incursions in Grenada and Panama, this nation never has initiated a pre-emptive strike. Our leaders make a strong case that a changing world . requires new rules, that .the nation cannot remain idle while rogue states develop weapons of mass destruction. . And this one thing is sure: However divided the nation might be about going to war, it must become united to support its troops once hostilities commence.

TEXT: In the Northwest however, Portland's Oregonian expresses great misgivings.

VOICE: We think the word catastrophe describes the imminent war even though we believe the military analysts who say it is likely to be a short, one-sided affair. .any war becomes a catastrophe the moment the first gun is fired .

TEXT: One of the nation's oldest and best known dailies, Missouri's Saint Louis Post-Dispatch takes issue with The Oregonian.

VOICE: There are risks in this endeavor, to be sure. But no one can plausibly argue that ridding the world of Saddam Hussein will not significantly improve the stability of the region and the security of American interests and values. [He] is a risk-taking aggressor who has attacked four countries, used chemical weapons against his own people, professed a desire to harm the United States and . has still refused to .disarm.

TEXT: Lastly, USA Today, the national daily published in a Washington, D-C suburb, suggests:

VOICE: Bush's case for war leaves key questions unanswered. . Have [the] military risks been adequately addressed? . How will [the] costs be paid? . How will war change the region? . The bottom line: With war likely hours away, Americans till don't know enough about what they're getting into.

TEXT: Those questions from USA Today bring us to the end of this further sampling of editorials on the imminent war against Iraq.

NEB/ANG