US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA2387

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002387 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, WHA/PDA 
WHITE HOUSE PASS NSC/WEUROPE; NSC/WHA 
E.O. 12958:    N/A 
 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, OPRC, CA, Iraq 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ 
 
IRAQ 
1.   "Bittersweet liberty" 
Andre Pratte editorialized in Montreal's centrist 
French language daily La Presse (8/20):  "...No one 
knows who is trying to put a spoke in the American's 
wheel...but one thing is certain, their macabre task 
will be rendered easier by the fact that they will find 
support among the general population. This is why the 
head of the provisionary government in Iraq, Paul 
Bremmer, must do everything in his power to win over 
the hearts of the Iraqis, if it's not already too 
late.... The American invasion was based on a 
simplistic vision of the world, the Middle East and 
Iraq. George Bush dreamed of killing four birds with 
one stone: Get rid of Saddam Hussein, weaken 
international terrorism, create a liberal democracy in 
the heart of the Arab nation and achieve a breakthrough 
toward peace in Palestine. Yesterday's events show 
that, for three out of the four, the President is still 
very far from his goal." 
 
2.   "Complicated Middle-East" 
Serge Truffaut commented in Montreal's 
intellectual/nationalist French-language daily Le 
Devoir (8/19): "...Viera de Mello made a comment less 
than a month after his nomination that is now as much 
enlightening as it is topical. He estimated that the 
United Nations were in `a bizarre situation' in Iraq 
because they are playing second fiddle behind two of 
its members, namely the United States and Great 
Britain.... In point of fact, however, if the UN 
Security Council saluted the provisional government in 
Iraq, it never recognized it. But it seems that this 
has convinced some Iraqi opponents to attack directly 
U.N. officials and their leader. They must perceive the 
U.N. as an ally of Washington and London.  A junior 
ally but an ally nonetheless." 
 
3.   "Wrong target" 
Pierre Jury editorialized in Ottawa's only French- 
language daily Le Droit (8/21): "...Thousands of Iraqis 
are opposed to the American-British presence in their 
country. This should not surprise us. Some are loyal to 
Saddam Hussein and will fight to the death for him. 
Others are simply nationalists who do not accept the 
strong-arm method used by the Americans to invade their 
country, or the rationale used to justify it. The U.N. 
is not the United States. The U.N. is not an invader: 
The terrorists who killed do not have the capacity to 
discern between the two.... So long as these monolithic 
thoughts persist in Iraq, peace will remain a distant 
illusive objective." 
 
CELLUCCI