Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=03/31/03

TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST

TITLE=MONDAY'S EDITORIALS

NUMBER=6-12886

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The war in Iraq remains the focus of many newspaper editorials, and war-related topics account for many others. There are also commentaries on the effect of the conflict on U-S airlines; repressing dissent in Cuba; the situation in Venezuela; and criticism of China over that new respiratory illness. Now, here is ___________ with a sampling in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

/// OPT /// TEXT: On New York's Long Island, Newsday struggles to find the right view of the war amongst varying press reports.

VOICE: The war in Iraq is just 11-days old: It is, at the very least, presumptuous to make definitive judgments about its successes, failures, and duration. That Americans are tempted to do so says volumes about the effects of 24-hour-a-day saturation news coverage on a nation transfixed by the war's televised spectacle. . Nevertheless, some trends are becoming clearer . This war is no cakewalk. It shows every sign of being longer and harder than the Bush administration and its most hawkish supporters may have hoped. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: Portland's Oregonian concedes the war may not have gone as smoothly as planners would have liked, but adds:

VOICE: That does not. change the basic rightness of the cause. If anything, the course of the conflict during the first 10-days underlines why America and Britain were right to go to war in the first place. The murder of defenseless prisoners and the at-gunpoint coercion of Iraqi civilians into harm's way are only two examples of the kind of vicious terrorism that typifies Saddam's rule.

TEXT: West Virginia's Charleston Gazette repeats its view: "we think President Bush's unprovoked attack on Iraq was needless" as it worries that hatred of this country will linger a long time among Muslim fanatics.

But in Connecticut, Waterbury's Republican-American differs, hoping the "Iraq war will deter al-Qaida recruiting," while California's San Diego Union-Tribune reminds that after the war, "winning the peace after the fighting stops may prove more difficult, which is why it demands the participation of the international community."

Several papers, among them The Chicago Tribune, San Antonio [Texas] Express-News and Cleveland [Ohio] Plain Dealer are worried about the effect the war is having on domestic airlines. As The Trib puts it:

VOICE: With the prospect that war in Iraq could stretch into weeks or months, the survival of United Airlines and American Airlines gets a whole lot tougher. Each carrier is trying to slash . costs to keep them in line with revenue projections that get worse by the day.

TEXT: Turning to other news, more papers take note of increased repression in Cuba, apparently timed to take advantage of preoccupation on Iraq. South Carolina's Charleston Post and Courier notes:

VOICE: Whenever there is a crack in the harsh dictatorship that has been imposed on Cuba for more than 44-years, Fidel Castro can be relied upon to crush hopes of greater freedom with a crackdown. The dictator's heavy hand has been felt once again in a surprisingly severe response to the publication of an independent magazine. . the editor . Ricardo Gonzalez, was arrested .[and] contributors to the magazine were rounded up. To date, at least 75-people . have been jailed.

TEXT: Adds The Houston Chronicle: "With the world's attention focused on . Iraq, Fidel Castro appears to be [making] life even more difficult for Cubans who do not agree with him.

China comes in for more criticism for its early silent on the fatal respiratory disease called SARS now circling the globe, responsible for at least 50 deaths. Hartford's [Connecticut] Courant complains:

VOICE: All affected nations except China sent daily updates from the beginning to the World Health Organization. China has even denied W-H-O [World Health Organization] scientists permission to visit Guangdong Province, where the outbreak is believed to have started.

TEXT: Lastly, Wisconsin's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls for President Bush to announce his long-promised "road map" for peace between The Palestinians and Israelis, now that the Palestinian parliament has ratified a new Prime Minister to share power with Yasser Arafat.

And that concludes this editorial sampling of Monday's U-S press.

NEB/ANG/RAE