US embassy cable - 03HARARE1222

UNCLAS HARARE 001222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR AND AF/PDPA DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE 
 
  1.   Under headline "Bombing out Iraq's ruins" the 
      pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" dedicated 
      its June 15 editorial to calling on the United 
      States "to ship out" of Iraq and "hand over the 
      country to its rightful owners" - the Iraqis. 
      Excerpts: 
 
  2.   ". . .While the global media was awash with images of 
      ululating Iraqis, celebrating the removal of Saddam 
      Hussein, there is no way they can hide from the world that 
      Iraqis simply want the Americans to ship out.  For the U. 
      S. to insist on a post-Iraq program that seeks to 
      perpetuate their stay in and control over the country is an 
      insult to sovereign people who wish for nothing more than 
      to define their own existence.  We register our concern 
      over sentiments expressed by the more conservative and 
      hawkish sections of the George W. Bush administration 
      calling for more troops to be poured into Iraq.  For, what 
      is clear is that no amount of military presence by the 
      Americans will quench the Iraq people's growing opposition 
      to the continued occupation of their country.  In fact, it 
      is our view that any escalation of U. S. military presence 
      will spur the rise of nationalist groups actively 
      challenging the unwelcome presence of the American forces. 
      What should inform the U. S. program on post-war Iraq is 
      the imperative to hand over the country to its rightful 
      owners.  To argue that Iraq needs to be managed by external 
      forces for a longer period before the Iraqis themselves 
      mature to the task of self-governance is simply arrogant 
      and smacks of hegemonic ulterior motives." 
 
SULLIVAN