US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA2857

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002857 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/PDA (OHILTON), IIP/G/WHA, IIP/T/ES, NEA/NGA, WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, KPAO, MOPS, PGOV, IZ, HO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ, DECEMBER 5, 2003 
 
 
1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El 
Heraldo" on 12/5 entitled "Soldiers in Iraq and 
transparency".  "The bloodless attack against the 
headquarters of our troops in Najaf, Iraq has reopened the 
debate among those who opposed the sending of Honduran 
troops to Iraq since the beginning, who are now demanding 
their immediate return, and those still think that it is 
reasonable to collaborate with the U.S. troops." 
 
"Most of those demanding the return of our soldiers are 
those who oppose our participation based on legal or moral 
grounds.  Also, there are some who initially agreed with our 
involvement in the coalition, but are now concerned that a 
tragedy will inevitably occur, just like the recent attacks 
against the Spaniards and Italians.  There are also some 
opponents of our presence in Iraq who are motivated by their 
ideological background.  They are those who are always 
against the U.S. and everything the government does." 
 
"However, the main issue here is the lack of transparency 
from the Honduran government, because before sending our 
troops to Iraq, we were told they would be part of a peace 
mission and there were no risks involved.  Some governmental 
officials even said that the presence of Honduran troops in 
that invaded country was in support of a mandate of the 
United Nations. " 
 
"Since the sending of Honduran soldiers to Iraq was mainly a 
decision of President Ricardo Maduro, later backed by 
Congress, the only conclusion we can assume is that our 
presence in Iraq is unmistakably based on our full agreement 
with the U.S. foreign policy goals and other commitments of 
reciprocal support we have acquired with the world's most 
powerful country.  We believe this issue must be properly 
informed to the Honduran people." 
 
"We must acknowledge that the risks our soldiers are facing 
in Iraq are common in any war.  Those who are using this 
excuse seem to forget that our troops were actually trained 
to fight, that they're known to be very brave, and if they 
return to Honduras shouldn't be because of fear.  This 
should be a political decision to be taken at the highest 
level.  Our authorities may have made a mistake by sending 
these troops, but now they can't simply back off.  We 
wouldn't want to appear in front of the whole world as 
cowards, or that we are governed by hesitant politicians." 
 
Palmer