US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO480

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000480 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR, I/RW, I/REC; PA 
SA/INS (FOR JWALLER); SA/PD LJIRWIN, LSCENSNY, WREINCKENS; 
SSA/PAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OPRC, KMDR, OIIP, CE, External Relations 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA PLAY:  IRAQ 
 
 
1. Over the 3/22-23 weekend Colombo's newspapers continued 
to criticize the war.  "Stop this war forthwith," insisted 
the independent English DAILY MIRROR.  The government-owned 
Sinhala weekender, DINAMINA, spoke of the "Middle East war 
environment:  crisis and impact."  "Alas!  War" said the 
opposition Sinhala weekly, DIVAINA.  The opposition English 
weekly, ISLAND SUNDAY, criticized Sri Lanka's "wishy-washy" 
position on the war under the headline "A matter of self- 
interest."  LAKBIMA, an independent Sinhala daily, called 
President Bush "The Ugly American."  "Do not disable UN" 
urged the independent Sinhala daily LANKADEEPA.  Playing on 
Washington's "Shock and Awe," the government-owned English 
weekly, SUNDAY OBSERVER said that the "awe and esteem with 
which American and British democratic traditions have been 
held by all of humanity is suddenly endangered by the 
launching of a war sans the collective sanction of the 
community of nations gathered in the UN."  The Independent 
English weekly, SUNDAY TIMES, called it an "Un-holy war." 
And VIRAKESARI, an independent Tamil daily, said that, 
"Although the U.S. claims that this is a step to destroy 
Saddam Hussein and his supporters, the whole world is 
condemning the war as one against humanity.  Now the world 
is divided into two.  Excerpts follow: 
 
2. Independent English daily, DAILY MIRROR (3/22) 
commented:  the war "... is against all norms of 
international law and ethics for a foreign country to take 
upon itself the task of liberating a people in a sovereign 
land by military action....  What emerges as a ... paradox 
is that those waging war today are avowed apostles of peace 
who exhort all and sundry to resolve their conflicts 
through peaceful means and negotiations." 
 
3. Government-owned Sinhala weekender, DINAMINA (3/22) 
published the headline "Middle East war environment: 
crisis and impact," over: 
 
"This war, initiated against the objections of the UN, will 
have a plethora of negative impacts....  Migrant workers 
... bring us a great deal of foreign exchange.  We are 
thankful that the Minister of Labor is concerned for their 
safety.  The government has also paid attention to consumer 
items, and to fuel supplies.  But our country is famous for 
words alone....  The impact will be nasty. 
 
It is sensible to provide diplomatic missions with 
protection, and government steps to prohibit demonstrations 
is also commendable....  We are already feeling the 
negative impact of twenty years of war in our own country. 
Now there is another war over which we can have no 
influence....  While we do not endorse any military action, 
we unanimously agree that the impact on our people should 
be minimized." 
 
4. The opposition Sinhala weekly, DIVAINA (3/23) thought 
ironic that, "while the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 
were discussing peace in Japan, a bloody war commenced, 
shocking the whole world.  A war initiated by George B. on 
Iraq....  How wise was Bush's decision, the future will 
ask. 
 
"Is the U.S. chasing Saddam away to free the Iraqi nation? 
What sort of fairyland will the U.S. build in Iraq after 
victimizing innocent people?  When will these cruel leaders 
realize that their might is not justice?  If a country's 
leader is a dictator, steps to remove him should be taken 
by a world authority and ... in a fair manner...." 
 
 
5. Opposition English weekly, ISLAND SUNDAY (3/23) 
criticized the Sri Lankan government's "wishy-washy 
statement on the war....  Uncle Sam is going to crush Iraq 
and in the process inflict untold suffering on helpless 
people.  Clearly we cannot cheer him on, but neither must 
we rap him on his knuckles leave alone kick him in the 
bottom.  So we issue the kind of statement we were treated 
to last week.  Colombo obviously could not influence the 
course of events....  Certainly not roar like the lion 
emblazoned on our national flag or even cluck like a broody 
hen.  So voice the usual platitudes.  Say that we have long 
urged Baghdad [to] comply with Security Council resolutions 
and get rid of its weapons of mass destruction....  Then we 
hope for a quick end to the conflict....  We are gravely 
concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the 
war....  Hence our "confidence that the coalition partners 
would move early to minimize adverse consequences on the 
civilian population in Iraq" and our blind faith that those 
who are dropping the bombs will move swiftly to repair the 
damage....  Nary a word of censure.... 
 
"Whether there will be a payoff for statements such as last 
week's effort by the Colombo foreign office only time can 
tell.  But a harder line, as practitioners of real politik 
well understand, would surely have meant a payback...." 
 
6. Independent Sinhala daily, LAKBIMA, called President 
Bush "The Ugly American": 
 
"The world saw on TV how Bush opened the doors of 
destruction and misfortune by initiating the war against 
Iraq....  the U.S. ... dancing a devil dance....  Where 
will this end?  Will there be a dictator for the whole 
world using its military power?  We have a lot to say on 
this subject but this is what America's most popular 
president, John F Kennedy, said:  `If mankind does not put 
a stop to war, war will put a stop to mankind.'" 
 
7. Independent Sinhala daily LANKADEEPA (3/22) pleaded "Do 
not disable UN" 
 
"The wagers of war, the UK and the U.S., are members of the 
UN.  So are Australia and Spain....  They should respect UN 
policies....  All countries should get together to 
strengthen the UN....  The UN was established to pursue 
important objectives.  One of them is securing peace in the 
world....  This war should be immediately stopped and the 
Iraq issue should be solved through a peaceful process." 
 
8. Independent weekender, SUNDAY LEADER (3/23) delineated 
the "lessons of war": 
 
- For Sri Lanka:  "From being the donors' darling right 
now, the prospect of Sri Lanka being relegated to runner-up 
to Iraq in the begging-bowl relay in June, must give the 
Prime Minister very cold feet indeed.  There's only so much 
money that the planet's better heeled nations dole out to 
their impoverished cousins each year.  It now seems we will 
have to share our cake with Iraq: the race to be seen 
offering bags of largesse will be far sexier to the anti- 
war citizens of Europe and Japan, than to send some cash in 
our direction...." 
 
- for the U.S.  "American credibility can come only from 
its pushing Israel into a just, negotiated settlement with 
the Palestinians, installing a UN peacekeeping force in the 
region if need be.  Bludgeoning Saddam into submission 
while giving Israel a free hand to settle on Palestinian 
lands and deprive Palestinians of the right of nationhood 
is an act of supreme hypocrisy.  And for a meaningful 
settlement of the `Middle-East Question,' both France and 
the UN are indispensable.  Fences need to be mended, and 
right quickly, too." 
 
- for the future:  "...start thinking seriously about how 
relevant the permanent membership of the UN Security 
Council is in the world order that has emerged since 1945. 
It may be time to give the EU and Japan seats as permanent 
members, and with it the right of veto....  Only new 
attitudes and more democracy at the highest level of world 
governance will give rise to a truly enlightened new 
international order:  if ever there was a millennium 
challenge, then this challenge is that challenge." 
 
9. Government-owned English weekly, SUNDAY OBSERVER (3/23) 
commented:  "... the formally stated intentions of 
Washington and its allies in attacking Iraq are laudable 
and eminently reasonable.  The primary issue in relation to 
Iraq has been its weapons capability, especially weapons of 
mass destruction, and Baghdad's propensity for aggression 
against its neighbours as well as its record of use of its 
deadly weaponry....  Today humanity is no longer a 
collection of loosely linked or isolated polities and 
communities.  The world is so closely knit that all 
communities and states are easily vulnerable to the actions 
of each other, whether it is in trade, ecological 
depredations or military action.  The misbehaviour of 
individual states today destabilise whole regions and 
sometimes may negatively affect the whole Earth. 
 
"But the management of global affairs can only be done by 
collective decision-making institutions at a global level. 
The international community has grown, in the past half- 
century, to appreciate and uphold the United Nations 
system, along with other, subsequently established, 
institutions of global management such as the WTO and other 
bodies and international legal mechanisms.  Today these are 
the ultimate, though yet imperfect, source of global 
democracy and governance....  That is why the recent 
failure of the US and its allies to adhere to the UN 
process in relation to Iraq has sent shock waves through 
the international community.  Indeed, the awe and esteem 
with which American and British democratic traditions have 
been held by all of humanity is suddenly endangered by the 
launching of a war sans the collective sanction of the 
community of nations gathered in the UN. 
 
"The US and its allies now bear the challenge of returning 
as quickly as possible to the UN fold and proceeding with 
all future actions in relation to Iraq via the global 
collective decision-making process.  It is only such a 
rapid submission to the global system of governance that 
will redeem these leaderships and legitimise their 
undeniably honourable intentions.  More importantly, it 
will guarantee the future of this system so vital as it is 
for global peace and prosperity." 
 
10. Independent English weekly, SUNDAY TIMES (3/23) called 
the war "... a grudge match at the insistence of just one 
man, arguably the most powerful man in the world.  In this 
day and age in the face of overwhelming opposition that one 
can send your army to kill the head of a sovereign state 
... is surreal.... 
 
"... the United States, long having lost the moral right to 
preach to the world what's right and what's wrong, is now 
pass as a moral arbiter in international affairs. 
 
"Countries such as ours have no option but to grin and 
bear, while the President of the United States settles old 
scores with impunity and with absolute disregard for 
international law.  In our position as bystander in this 
whole imbroglio, we are reduced to making see-saw 
statements and scramble to control the fallout disaster to 
our own affairs." 
 
Wills