Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=03/27/03

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=WAR: EMERGING PERSPECTIVES

NUMBER=6-12884

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: As the war with Irar it grinds on, newspapers around the world are voicing reservations about the conflict. We get a current sampling now from V-O-A's ___________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: Both the Iraqi regular army and the Iraqi Republican Guard are putting up stiffer resistance than anticipated. In Rome, Italy's La Repubblica observes:

VOICE: 'On the seventh day, everything is going according to plans,' President Bush tells us. But there is a problem: we don't know the plans and right now the new password is 'flexibility' . the Pentagon admits that some missiles may have missed their target . the fancy 'shock and awe' doctrine slows down.

TEXT: The Russian media already sees what is says are "shortcomings" of the U-S-British forces, as noted by Moscow's Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

VOICE: While it is too early to speak of major mistakes. by the . U-S-British forces . command . some shortcomings in . tactics are apparent. The Iraqis' resistance has proved far stronger than expected. . Clearly, there is a shortage of ground troops, and the advancing forces have problems with supplies.

TEXT: A more cautious view comes from Spain. The newspaper La Vanguardia in the capital Madrid weighs in.

VOICE: Questioning the strategy . when only one week has passed. is reckless and risky, but it seems evident that we're not talking about a military parade anymore.

TEXT: Moving eastward, to U-S NATO ally Turkey, Istanbul's mass circulation Hurriyet takes a more critical view.

VOICE: Given the mistakes . by the American hawks, the U-S deterrent role has been seriously damaged. Scenes from the war prove that Iraq, despite the 12-year embargo and other problems, is not going to be a piece of cake [Editors: slang for "easy"] for the American troops.

TEXT: In the Middle East, Israel's Ha'aretz from Tel Aviv scoffs:

VOICE: Those who initiated the war against Iraq assumed with typical arrogance that there is no such thing as Iraqi patriotism . and the Iraqi state is . held together only thanks to the devilish, despotic and murderous Saddam regime. To their astonishment, the Americans are . discovering. the Iraqis are not greeting them . as liberators, but .as occupiers violating the homeland.

TEXT: In North Africa, Algeria's French-language Liberte from Algiers even goes so far as to predict a "quagmire."

VOICE: Progress towards Baghdad will not be easy and taking the capital is no longer a certitude unless thousands of Iraqis are killed . defending their country.

TEXT: There is a theme of "we told you so" from some of the Saudi press as we read in the regional daily Al-Watan in Abha.

VOICE: Long before the war started and the Anglo American coalition got trapped in the marshes and deserts. Saudi Arabia realized the magnitude . and the danger such war would have on international peace and security. That is why [we] insisted on resolving the .[conflict] by peaceful methods . and security.

TEXT: To Asia and the third member of the coalition, Australia, where Melbourne's Age is having some qualms as well.

VOICE: Now that the first flush of enthusiasm is over, it is clear the Iraq war will not be a walkover for the United States-led coalition. Some of the war's central myths are coming under pressure.

TEXT: As for Japan's giant Asahi in Tokyo, still more pessimism. "Exactly one week into the action against Iraq, the prospects for an early end to the . war appear to be dimming."

Moving on to the subcontinent, Bombay's Marathi-language Navshakti suggests:

VOICE: America is sure to win the unequal war . on Iraq, but it isn't going to be . easy and painless.

TEXT: In sub-Saharan Africa, a columnist in the Kenya Times from Nairobi is of a similar opinion.

VOICE: Everybody expected a sweep-up of the Iraqi troops, but somehow I am beginning to believe . that going to war with Iraq is no picnic.

TEXT: And lastly from Zambia, a nation that has known some internal strife itself, comes this grim prediction in Lusaka's Independent Post.

VOICE: The way the [U-S] . is trying to end the Saddam Hussein regime by murdering its leaders will lead to the creation of altars where those murdered in this invasion will be worshipped as saints by millions of men and women. we feel the more candidly we tell the truth about the United States and British genocide in Iraq, the more possibilities there will be to change things for the better.

TEXT: On that note from the heart of Africa, we conclude this editorial sampling of world opinion on the Iraqi war.

NEB/ANG