Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/8/04

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=IRAQI VIOLENCE SURGES

NUMBER=6-130331

BY LINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: As coalition forces in Iraq engage growing numbers of Sunni and Shiite militias and the casualties mount, the press debate over U-S policy intensifies. Joining us now with a sampling is V-O-A's __________ and today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: With rising violence in much of the Sunni triangle and fighting elsewhere between coalition forces and the Shiite militia of anti-U-S cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, pessimism reigns in U-S editorial columns. Some papers are concerned about what appears to be an emerging coalition between normally hostile Shiite and Sunni Muslims; others worry about allied troop strength. Still others believe the June 30th turnover date to Iraqi control is now increasingly unrealistic. One of these is Florida's Saint Petersburg Times:

VOICE: The president needs to be honest with the American people -- and himself -- about what has gone wrong in Iraq and how the U-S mission can be salvaged.... Having gotten us into this bloody mess ... through its hubris and miscalculation, the Bush administration has an obligation to get us out in a way that assures Iraq's stability and salvages our national security and honor.

TEXT: The word hubris appears again in this plea for U-N leadership from Minnesota's Minneapolis Star Tribune:

VOICE: Invading Iraq was a mistake, an operation born of hubris and naiveté. Leaving Iraq now, unstable and headed for civil war, would be a far worse mistake. ... The American political apparatus ... should be boxed up and shipped home. Put aside the June 30 deadline ...[and turn] the planning for Iraq's future totally over to the United Nations.

TEXT: The Chicago Tribune says:

VOICE: ...it's time for a national debate about the June 30 date and how the turnover should proceed. And its time to put maximum pressure on the U-N and the Governing Council to work out a legitimate plan for the transfer of power. ... The inability of coalition forces to tame the insurgency ... foreshadows even more gaudy violence to come.

TEXT: In southern Ohio, there is a call for courage from The Cincinnati Enquirer:

VOICE: As American and allied casualties rise ... it's easy to lose sight of our goal: to restore freedom and establish democracy there, then allow Iraqis to run their own country. There is the desire to respond with the brutality of our enemies, or to just pack up and leave. We must do neither.

TEXT: As for that surprising coalition of Sunnis and Shiites, Pennsylvania's [Allentown] Morning Call notes:

VOICE: A disturbing phenomenon is that for the first time, Sunnis and Shiites are fighting side by side. Even worse, some Americans feel that members of the retrained police will turn on occupation forces if they perceive that their Islamic faith has been gravely insulted. One incident that incited many was a raid on a [cleric Moqtada] Sadr office in Khadamiya ... [in which] ... American soldiers tore a poster of Mr. Sadr's father from the wall and marred the rug in a prayer room with their combat boots. Muslims do not enter such ... rooms without removing their shoes.

TEXT: Lastly, words of encouragement from The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The paper discounts criticism that coalition forces waited too long to confront militias.

VOICE: The [Bush] administration may be faulted for mistakes in the course of the occupation, but it is inevitable that the opponents of a free Iraq would try to dismantle progress toward sovereignty and eventual elections. The clock is not on their side ... The critics on the political left, including ... Senator Ted Kennedy ... draw parallels with Vietnam. This is so superficial an argument as to be ridiculous.

TEXT: Those views from Louisiana's Baton Route Advocate conclude this sampling of reaction to the upsurge of fighting in Iraq.

NEB/ANG/KL