Cablegate: Media Reaction War with Iraq; Harare

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 000672

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS
IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IZ KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR WITH IRAQ; HARARE

1. Under headline "Butchering of Iraqi civilians
worrying" the independent weekly "Business Tribune"
dedicated its April 3 editorial to describing the
United States-led war against Iraq as "one big-
enterprise in manslaughter." Excerpts:

2. "The description by a wounded British soldier who
survived friendly fire last weekend should give
everybody an insight into how painful war
is. . . Thousands and thousands of Iraqi women
and children are experiencing the pain he felt
and the noise he would never want to hear again.
(Lance Corporal of Horse Steven) Gerrard's
cowardice is obvious. He does not wish to
experience the pain of war while inflicting it
on innocent civilians. This unfortunately has
become the character of the coalition's invasion
of Iraq. American soldiers especially have
begun to show this cowardice more and more as
they kill innocent civilians trying to run away
from the conflict. Their cowboy-style
checkpoint shootings show a cowardly approach to
the war that might well turn public opinion
against them. . . The war has become dirty and
this had not been factored into the `shock and
awe' strategy. Obviously now the invaders have
crossed the Rubicon and cannot therefore retreat
without their ultimate trophy, Saddam Hussein's
scalp. But the world should be very worried by
the butchering of innocent people. The Gerrard
incident shows the invasion of Iraq is one big-
enterprise in manslaughter."

SULLIVAN

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