Cablegate: Media Reaction - Iraq - Tokyo

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UNCLAS TOKYO 006375

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ - TOKYO

LEAD STORIES: Most Monday morning papers front-paged the
death sentence handed down Sunday by an Iraqi special
tribunal to Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity in
connection with his brutal repression of a Shiite town in
the 1980s.

1. "Hussein's Death Sentence: Seeking Reconciliation in
Iraq" The moderate Tokyo Shimbun editorialized (11/6):
"Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death. While this
could be termed the fate of a dictator, his sentence must
not be allowed to lead to civil war or a breakup of the
country. The Maliki administration needs to look for an
approach that will get beyond sectarian divisions and
lead to national reconciliation.... While Hussein is
trying to make himself out to be the 'hero' of a war of
resistance against the United States, saying that if he
is to be executed he would prefer to be shot, there are
concerns that his death sentence could fan feelings of
confrontation and trigger a chain of nightmarish
events.... The only hope for overcoming the difficulties
ahead is the Maliki administration, which has the
participation of every major political party representing
the country's various religious sects and ethnic groups.
Iraq should continue with the trials to shed light on the
crimes of the Hussein regime, which victimized all
Iraqis, and use them as an opportunity to part ways with
dictatorship forever."

2. "Hussein's Death Sentence: Some Calling It a Stunt
Ahead of US Midterm Elections" Washington correspondent
Sadahiro of the top-circulation, moderate Yomiuri wrote
(11/6): "The death sentence handed down to Saddam Hussein
should have been the end point of the Bush
administration's goal of toppling the Iraqi dictator and
an opportunity to establish the rule of law in a new
Iraq. But with the midterm elections only two days away
and finding a way out of Iraq the focal point of the
campaign, there is no elation in the United States....
Democrats are contending that the US is now in greater
danger because of the Iraq war, a direct challenge to
President Bush, who argues that toppling Hussein has made
America, Iraq, and the world safer. There has been
speculation that the death sentence, handed down just
days before the midterm elections, was a political stunt
intended to help the struggling Republican Party."

SCHIEFFER

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