US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE748

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PTER, MI, Media 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ, LILONGWE 
 
1.  "Come to the rescue now" 
 
2.  The independent weekly, "Malawi News" of 
August 27, carried an opinion piece by prominent 
journalist/editor, Jika Nkolokosa, in his 
regular column "All I can say".  Nkolokosa 
blames the world for a belated intervention to 
stop atrocities Saddam Hussein committed in 
Iraq.  Excerpts follow. 
 
3.  When Saddam was overthrown, all accusing 
fingers pointed at the former dictator who, in 
fact took the rap for all evil that ever 
occurred in Iraq.  But it has got me wondering 
where they were all the time Saddam wreaked 
havoc. 
 
4.  How did the world let this unsavory man 
wreak so much havoc for so long?  Surely, the 
rest of the world must be guilty of complicity 
in his atrocities, because he could never have 
done half the harm he did if the world had stood 
firm against him from the word go. 
 
5.  But the world let Saddam have his own way 
for so long under the guise of never interfering 
in a sovereign state.  What absurdity!  No 
single madman has the right, under whatever 
international charter or convention, to bring 
such misery to a whole nation in the name of 
sovereignty. 
 
6.  The world has to share the blame for 
allowing the Pol Pots and the Idi Amins, the Kim 
Jong Ils and the Saddam Husseins to 
systematically apply their madness to millions 
of people and ensure their every single day on 
earth was miserable.  It sickens me today to 
hear people take all kinds of credit for 
returning Iraq to a semblance of normality. 
Good gracious, where were they when sanity was 
passing Iraq by? It makes me very sad. Very sad. 
Damn it. 
 
7.  Is there a possibility that that you are 
failing in your good neighborliness, especially 
here in Africa where we have no shortage of self- 
appointed messiahs.  All I can say is, the world 
failed the Iraqis.  Let's not fail those who 
need to be rescued now from the clutches of 
someone with a similar or worse homicidal 
streak. 
 
Eastham