Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/014/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=REBUILDING IRAQ

NUMBER=6-12899

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: As conflict in Iraq winds down, the United States and British forces face the immediate task of helping establish order in the nation, and helping the Iraqis get the basics of life. It is a difficult job, and the American press has a variety of concerns related to the war and its aftermath. Here is a sampling from V-O-A's ____________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: The latest reports from Iraq say fighting is diminishing as U-S and British troops mop up the last pockets of resistance. A bigger problem is restoring order in the cities, and helping Iraqi civilians get food, water and medical care. There is a wide array of war-related topics in current U-S editorials.

We begin in Tennessee, and Chattanooga's Free Press which notes a lot of commentators jumped to conclusions about the war, too quickly.

VOICE: Impatient critics, after only a few days of military action, were calling U-S strategy "flawed," describing U-S forces as "bogged down." But now, after only two weeks of war, the world has seen most of Baghdad fall, with only sporadic skirmishes and no last-ditch defense. Iraqi civilians, after understandable initial caution to be sure Saddam was really "gone," did pour into the streets to welcome American troops with joy. . Even the anti-U-S Muslim neighbors of Iraq. will have difficulty denying the preference of many Iraqis for their liberators over their former oppressors.

TEXT: Views of Tennessee's Chattanooga Free Press. California's San Jose Mercury News joins in praising what it feels was a huge gamble, but one that definitely paid off.

VOICE: It was, we suggested, a huge role of the dice. If this were [Los] Vegas, [the Nevada city famed for its gambling] a jackpot bell would be clanging and the administration would be scooping up coins. The fall of Baghdad Wednesday was precisely three weeks after those first bombs exploded in the city. . President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other advocates of the war strategy can bask in the glow of their success.

TEXT: As regards widespread looting that took place in Baghdad and other cities, and the destruction of the antiquities museum's priceless treasures, Pittsburgh's Post Gazette laments:

VOICE: In Iraq, looters have ransacked a museum containing antiquities that are the patrimony not just of the Cradle of Civilization but of the entire human race. Officials [say] .that 50-thousand artifacts had been carried away by looters, including . a gold harp from the Sumerian period between 3360-BC and 2-thousand BC . It is possible that museum officials hid some of the most precious antiquities .but there is little doubt that a major collection has been devastated. The question is whether U-S military forces could have done more to prevent the looting.

TEXT: An even harsher critique comes from USA Today, the national daily published in a Washington, DC suburb.

VOICE: The U-S military's failure to anticipate the extend of the chaos that followed the regime's collapse and move quickly to restore order risks squandering the goodwill Iraqis showed U-S forces last week when they entered Baghdad. In spite of tentative signs of normality in the capital Sunday as citizens began venturing back into the streets, hundreds of Iraqis staged a demonstration blaming the U-S for allowing lawlessness to reign.

TEXT: In Boston, The Christian Science Monitor points out that a huge change is coming in the political structure of the nation. It is, The Monitor points out, not just the end of Saddam Hussein's terror-based dictatorship, but almost certainly the beginning of a key role for the long-suppressed Shiite minority.

VOICE: It's imperative then for Iraqi democrats shaping a new government to carefully weigh how much of a role to give Islam in civil life to ensure democracy's survival, and how much to structure a new government to both reflect and bridge this ancient religious divide among Arabs.

TEXT: The New York Times discusses yet another aspect of both the war, and Iraq's rebuilding, and that is how it will be paid for.

VOICE: Invading, occupying and rebuilding Iraq will cost American taxpayers more than 100-billion dollars. But for some lucky companies, Iraq is emerging as a profit center. The administration has begun farming out contracts, and politically connected firms like Halliburton are among the early winners. This looks like naked favoritism and undermines the Bush administration's portrayal of the war as a campaign for disarmament and democracy, not lucre [Editors: another name for money.]

. With so much money involved it is vital that bidding be competitive, transparent and open to all. That has not happened so far.

TEXT: Lastly, Wisconsin's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is worried that Christian organizations wanting to help with donations of food, medicine and shelter may find it hard not to also try and convert Iraq's Muslims in the process.

VOICE: Efforts by evangelical groups to convert Iraq's Muslims could prove counterproductive in the wake of a war that many followers of Islam already see, mistakenly, as just another form of traditional Western imperialism. . such efforts also have been identified, often rightly, with European and American efforts to colonize or dominate other countries and cultures. Even Muslims who loathe [Saddam] Hussein are at the very least uncomfortable with the coalition attack on Iraq precisely because of that history.

TEXT: Those comments conclude this sampling of comment on the rebuilding of Iraq.

NEB/ANG/FC