US embassy cable - 03HARARE678

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000678 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF, AF/S, AF/PD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, ZI, IZ 
SUBJECT:  Zimbabwean Media and Public Opinion on War in 
Iraq 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. 
 
  1.   (SBU) Summary:  In spite of efforts by both 
     government-owned and privately owned media to spin war 
     news for local political purposes, the conflict in Iraq 
     remains a distant concern for the great majority of 
     Zimbabweans.  Public opinion is quietly anti-war and 
     tends to reflect public opinion toward the Government 
     of Zimbabwe:  Government supporters oppose the war, and 
     critics of the government, while not gung-ho supporters 
     of the Coalition, show some sympathy for the need to 
     depose Saddam Hussein.  The Government of Zimbabwe 
     (GOZ) has expressed strong opposition to the war and 
     argues that U.S. actions in Iraq represent a threat to 
     Zimbabwe and the world.  Popular opinion is not greatly 
     influenced by GOZ attempts to portray the war as a 
     threat to Zimbabwe.  On the street, there is no sign of 
     the war other than newspaper headlines.  There have 
     been no demonstrations or graffiti related to the war, 
     and the war does not dominate our casual, day-to-day 
     contact with Zimbabweans.  For most Zimbabweans, the 
     war in Iraq is so far removed from their daily lives 
     that they treat it more like a movie or the latest TV 
     "reality" show than a serious geo-political conflict. 
     End summary. 
 
 
 
  --------------------------------------------- ------- 
  ---------------------- 
  Zimbabwean Media "Spin" War News in Different 
  Directions 
  --------------------------------------------- ------- 
  ---------------------- 
  2.   (SBU) Both sides of Zimbabwe's polarized media are 
     seeking to use the war in Iraq to advance political 
     messages.  Government-owned media get top honors, 
     though, for both quantity and shrillness of their 
     messages.  Government-owned dailies "The Herald" and 
     "The Chronicle" offer readers a mixture of sensational 
     headlines over reasonably straightforward wire service 
     (primarily AFP and Reuters) stories, and staunchly anti- 
     US opinion pieces from obscure left-wing news services 
     and local pundits. 
 
  3.   (U) The front page of the April 2 "Herald" 
     illustrates GOZ attitudes toward the war and the way 
     government editors manipulate the news.  A reasonably 
     responsible AFP report on the tragedy of Iraqi 
     civilians killed when their vehicle failed to stop at a 
     roadblock was reprinted under an above-the-fold, blood- 
     red banner that read "US Massacres 48 - Victims include 
     women, children."  The op-ed spread in the same edition 
     gave a full page to two stories:  "US Lies Exposed" and 
     "US, UK Conflict Over Spoils of War."  These stories 
     came from an international Trotskyite organization. 
 
  4.   (U) All free-to-air broadcast media in Zimbabwe is 
     owned and tightly controlled by the GOZ.  As a result, 
     average Zimbabweans receive a steady diet of distinctly 
     anti-American radio and television reports and news 
     "analysis."  Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) 
     television news focuses on Iraqi civilian casualties, 
     and tends to feature video loops alternating between 
     Iraqi government officials in press conferences and 
     images of wounded Iraqi children.  ZBC also produces a 
     nightly discussion program on Iraq, called "U.S.-UK 
     Invasion of Iraq," that invites mostly anti-American 
     Zimbabweans to discuss the war. 
 
  5.   (SBU) The purpose of government media spin is 
     clear:  Show the US to be an uncaring, neo-colonialist 
     hegemon and show the Iraqis to be courageous, 
     principled victims.   This spin complements the GOZ's 
     campaign to cast itself as a courageous and principled 
     government standing up to an uncaring neo-colonialist 
     hegemon.  Government media have not dedicated any time 
     or space to examining Saddam Hussein's history or style 
     of government.  The GOZ and its media have long made 
     use of external enemies to deflect public attention 
     from the real causes of Zimbabwe's problems. 
     Traditionally, the UK has been the primary target of 
     these campaigns.  The war in Iraq, however, has given 
     the GOZ an opportunity to cast the U.S. as the most 
     dangerous enemy, so we have temporarily replaced the 
     British in GOZ propaganda efforts. 
 
  6.   (U) Privately owned media provide more responsible 
     coverage of the war, but are also trying to spin events 
     in Iraq to support their political agendas.  War 
     coverage, mostly straight from Reuters and AP, is 
     published in inside pages.  Headlines are 
     dispassionate.  Op-ed writers, though, have seized on 
     the principle that dictators face serious consequences. 
     A few have suggested that the world should turn its 
     attention to Zimbabwe once Saddam Hussein has been 
     removed from power.  The privately owned media have 
     published news stories and op-ed pieces that raise the 
     issues of Saddam Hussein's human rights record, use of 
     WMD, and attacks against neighboring countries. 
     Overall, Zimbabwe's private media provide generally 
     balanced news reporting while using the example of 
     Saddam Hussein to highlight Zimbabwe's own problems 
     with autocratic leadership 
 
     --------------------------------------- 
     Iraq Debate is a Luxury for Most 
     --------------------------------------- 
  7.   (SBU) While countervailing government and private 
     media spin may provide some diversion for Zimbabwe's 
     elite, the war is of little consequence to the great 
     majority of Zimbabweans.  Most Zimbabweans feel no 
     particular connection to Iraq, are not Muslim, and are 
     fully occupied with the day-to-day pressures of making 
     ends meet in Zimbabwe's dysfunctional economy and 
     highly charged political environment.  There have been 
     no anti-US or pro-Iraq demonstrations in Zimbabwe, nor 
     any apparent rejection of the American cultural symbols 
     (food outlets, clothing styles, music) among young 
     Zimbabweans.  Embassy officers and their families have 
     encountered almost no Iraq-related hostility from 
     Zimbabweans. 
 
  8.   (U) Among the elite (generally people with access 
     to international news sources), attitude toward the war 
     in Iraq correlates positively to attitude toward the 
     government of Robert Mugabe.  The more strongly an 
     individual supports Mugabe, the more likely it is he or 
     she will oppose the war against Saddam Hussein.  Among 
     these people, the prevalent perceptions are that the 
     war is for control of Iraqi oil, that the U.S. is again 
     demonstrating its "cowboy" or "global cop" approach to 
     the world, and that the death of Iraqi civilians proves 
     that America is amoral and relieves the U.S. of any 
     right to complain about human rights in Zimbabwe.  The 
     elite who favor reform in Zimbabwe tend to see the war 
     in Iraq in more nuanced terms.  Only a few strongly 
     support the war.  These few are the same people who 
     would like to see coalition military forces drive 
     straight from Baghdad to Harare.  Most reform-minded 
     elite Zimbabweans appreciate the dimensions of Saddam 
     Hussein's crimes and are sympathetic to the imperative 
     of deposing him.  Many of them, however, are not 
     persuaded that the U.S. was right to act without full 
     UN backing and believe that we should have given 
     diplomacy more time.  Many of these people are also 
     concerned that U.S. action has damaged the UN and that 
     the long-term result of the war will be to create many 
     more fanatics determined to attack the U.S. 
 
  ----------------- 
  Action Show? 
   --------------- 
  9.   (SBU) Perhaps the most telling illustration of 
     Zimbabwean popular attitude toward the war is the way 
     audiences react to war video.  The Embassy's public 
     affairs section is standing-room only each day when it 
     shows international television news of the war.  On 
     occasion, the almost exclusively male audience will 
     break into cheers and applause for some telegenic bit 
     of violence (e.g., a burning tank, or an especially 
     large explosion).  The Zimbabwean audience doesn't seem 
     to care whether the violence is against Coalition or 
     Iraqi forces - they just enjoy the spectacle.  The 
     conclusion we draw from this is that, for most 
     Zimbabweans, the war is simply not real; it is so 
     remote that audiences relate to it the way they might 
     relate to an action movie.  They may identify more 
     closely with the Iraqis than the Americans, but it is 
     not a passionate identification.  In the end, we 
     suspect that many Zimbabweans will want to identify 
     with the winners and that long-term resentment of U.S. 
     action in Iraq will be limited to the pro-government 
     elite. 
 
  SULLIVAN