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March 19., 2003
- And the war began... -----------
[this page in French] |
On Saturday, March 22., 2003., Frédéric Nerac, a French cameraman for the British TV ITN, disappeared near Basrah, with his guide, the Libanese Hussein Hosmann. European press review, by BBC on March 19. 2003 France's Le Monde describes the decision to go to war against Iraq as "a tremendous diplomatic defeat for the Bush administration". Washington "was wrong in misjudging the firmness of Paris's intentions, wrong on Turkey's attitude, wrong on the state of public opinion, wrong on its ability to bring pressure to bear on the 'small' members of the Security Council," the paper laments. The Nouvel Observateur launches a personal attack on US President Bush along with his allies, the UK and Spanish prime ministers. It says that when the three met last Sunday in the Azores to discuss their next move, "they resembled three shipwrecked sailors hallucinating on a desert island". It believes Mr Bush has "ridiculed the United Nations, marginalized Nato and pulverized Europe". Le Figaro, on the other hand, praises President Jacques Chirac's reaction to President Bush's 48-hour ultimatum to Baghdad. Tony Blair will forever bear the scar of the divisions he has created within his party and even among his people The paper says he "remained faithful to the line he has upheld since the onset of the crisis and which has made him the leader of the peace camp". But now Mr Chirac has before him "the difficult task of mending the fracture lines within the European Union, and re-establishing a relationship of trust" with America. Difficult times also lie ahead for British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, Switzerland's Le
Temps predicts. But no matter happens in Iraq, yesterday's debate in the UK parliament on the Iraq crisis indicates that "Tony Blair will forever bear the scar of the divisions he has created within his party and even among his people," the paper believes. As the deadline set by President Bush for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face war approaches, European countries decide whether they will provide military support for attack. The USA's war on Iraq is without legitimacy and Denmark should reject it . Denmark's decision to participate in the war
on Iraq gets a mixed reception in the country's papers. BT
says the government has made "a difficult, but correct decision".
Public opposition to the war makes it "extremely risky"
to send Danish soldiers to the Gulf, the paper says, but there
is a chance that "a short and successful war can create a
free and open society from Hussein's cruel dictatorship".
The Czech Republic is also part of President
Bush "coalition of the willing," deploying special anti-chemical
warfare units to Kuwait. But a commentator writing in Mlada
Fronta Dnes is disappointed that the government has
not stated its clear stance on a war against Iraq. "A clear
statement would be a signal saying that we have representatives
who know what they want," says the commentator. In Austria the decision to close its airspace to planes involved in military action against Iraq is welcomed in Die Presse. But the paper fears that the military's lack of fighter planes means that it will be almost impossible to enforce. "This is why the pompous airspace closure is nothing but a chimera," the paper concludes. Russia's Defence Ministry newspaper Krasnaya
Zvezda expresses fear of a terrorist backlash following
military action in Iraq. "This spring the USA may well celebrate
another military victory. But the celebration will end ...Will
it bring about a new upsurge in terrorism? Most likely."
Most Arabic papers react angrily to President Bush's 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, while some also view the prospects for the region after any war. George Bush Jr will not be able to deceive the
Arabs and the world. He is the most hideous symbol of imperialist
aggression. He is the one selected by Zionism to implement its
big conspiracies... Bush has tried to deceive the Arabs, to contain
their anger by bribes and lies... It is a conspiracy against the
Arabs and the world that says: This is mad cowboy disease, which
is worse than mad cow disease. We are faced with a savage aggression targeting
our values, honour, land and sovereignty... What is laughable
is that Mr Annan is seeing and listening to the American administration's
ridiculous and contemptible stances and their open declaration
that their aim is to occupy Iraq, nothing else. The US' move to launch its aggression against
Iraq is burying all the nominal values of international conventions
and its resort to war without international cover is... making
the UN valueless. We know the people of Iraq will not agree to
exchange Saddam's dictatorship for foreign occupation, even after
Iraq is defeated and falls into the hands of the US. Saddam will remain far and safe from the gunfire,
while missiles and the mother of all missiles will fall on the
innocent people of Iraq. All those who heard President Bush's address must have been surprised
by his claim that his bombs, missiles, and planes would not hit
the Iraqi people and would single out the regime's leaders and
collaborating army units. We [the people of Kuwait] don't fear this war
and we don't fear dealing with the US or the West, but we fear
the persistent backwardness and injustice which is being imposed
on the people of the region by their governments. The Iraqi people who have been suffering 12 years
of sanctions will pay a high price for the forthcoming war which
will come to finish those remaining. Whether we agree or disagree with the US administration
on this objective, we agree with its perception of President Saddam
Hussein's manoeuvres. He seems to have a lot of manoeuvres up
his sleeve, and his preoccupation with them makes him unable to
comprehend the danger knocking at the gates of Iraq and the region.
Mr Bush is right, the Iraqi president is an evil
person... One missile would be enough to get rid of him if the
US president knows the whereabouts of Saddam. The Arabs who are at the centre of the storm,
and the danger which is knocking at their doors, should awaken
from their deep sleep and face the danger which threatens their
existence. Bush and Blair wanted to use the UN to give legal
cover to an unjustifiable, illegal and unethical war... In spite
of the dangerous developments, the majority of Arab rulers have
remained silent while some of them continued their submission
to the US providing it with facilities to carry out the aggression.
The US is serious about coming out of this war
with a new international system based on US values and interests...
There is no doubt that the present US ambitions do not differ
greatly from the German ambitions which led to the collapse of
the League of Nations. Origine : BBC
March 19., 2003 On Saturday, March 22., 2003., Frédéric Nerac, a French cameraman for the British TV ITN, disappeared near Basrah, with his guide, the Libanese Hussein Hosmann.
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