DATE=12/17/98 TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-11059 TITLE=A SKEPTICAL WORLD REACTS TO U-S IRAQ ATTACK BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= INTRO: A SOMEWHAT SKEPTICAL WORLD PRESS GREETED THE U-S ATTACK ON IRAQ WITH CONCERNS SIMILAR TO SOME U-S NEWSPAPERS, NAMELY THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON'S DECISION MAY HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED, AT LEAST IN PART, BY THE PENDING IMPEACHMENT HEARING IN THE HOUSE. WE GET A SAMPLING OF EARLY REACTION FROM SOME CORNERS OF THE GLOBE, NOW FROM _______________ IN THIS WEEK'S WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE ATTACK, ANNOUNCED LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY, WASHINGTON TIME, CAME TOO LATE FOR COMMENT IN SOME MORNING PAPERS AROUND THE WORLD. OPINION RANGES FROM SUPPORT FOR THE JOINT U-S-BRITISH ATTACKS, WHICH MANY PAPERS DEEM "UNAVOIDABLE" ..... TO SUSPICION THAT THE TIMING OF THE ATTACK, ON THE EVE OF THE SCHEDULED HOUSE IMPEACHMENT VOTE IS SUSPECT. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING IN BRITAIN, WHERE THE NEWSPAPERS OF AMERICA'S ONLY ALLY IN THIS ACTION, ARE GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE. "THE GUARDIAN" IS, BUT WITH SOME RESERVATIONS. VOICE: THE AMERICANS AND THE BRITISH SHOW A READINESS TO DEAL WITH SADDAM MILITARILY, BUT THIS MASKS DOUBTS ABOUT WHERE SUCH ACTION MIGHT LEAD. .... BOMBING ALSO CARRIES LARGE RISKS. SADDAM WILL PROTECT TARGETS LIKE THE PALACES BY INDUCING CIVILIANS TO CONVERGE ON THEM. HE COULD CONCEIVABLY HAVE, AND IT IS JUST CONCEIVABLE HE MAY USE, CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS WHICH THE U-N INSPECTORS HAVE FAILED TO FIND. TEXT: "THE TIMES" CALLS THE AIR CAMPAIGN "UNAVOIDABLE," AND CONTINUES: VOICE: THE ONLY REMAINING QUESTION IS WHETHER SADDAM PREFERRED TO SUBJECT HIS PEOPLE TO PUNISHING AIR ATTACKS RATHER THAN GIVE UP THESE WEAPONS, OR WHETHER HE GAMBLED THAT, WITH IMPEACHMENT THREATENING MR. CLINTON, HE WOULD AGAIN ESCAPE UNSCATHED. EITHER WAY, FACTS HAD TO BE FACED. /// OPT /// ... IT WAS RIGHT NOT TO WAIT ON THE U-N. ... SADDAM DELIBERATELY FORCED THIS GRIM CONCLUSION. THE RESPONSE HAD TO BE SWIFT AND DECISIVE. TEXT: DETERMINATION SEEMS TO BE ON THE MIND OF "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH" WHICH WARNS IN ITS HEADLINE "NOW SEE IT THROUGH." /// END OPT /// HOWEVER "THE EXPRESS" HAS ITS DOUBTS ABOUT THE TIMING, AS DO MANY U-S DAILIES. VOICE: IF YOU BELIEVE IN COINCIDENCE, THEN THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST IN HISTORY. PRESIDENT CLINTON IS FACING AN IMPEACHMENT HEARING [AND] ORDERS THE BOMBING OF IRAQ. IT IS, WITHOUT DOUBT, THE MOST CYNICAL PLOY OF A CLINTON ADMINISTRATION WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN TAINTED BY CYNICISM .... /// OPT /// ARE WE BEING DRAWN INTO A BLOODY CONFLICT MERELY TO BOLSTER AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT WHO FINDS HIMSELF IN GRAVE DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES? TEXT: JUST ACROSS THE CHANNEL, IN PARIS, THE FRENCH DAILY "LIBERATION" IS ALSO SKEPTICAL. VOICE: WASHINGTON HAS DECIDED TO PUT AN END TO THIS CAT AND MOUSE GAME ... BUT THE U-S DECISION NEVERTHELESS RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS. FIRST, BECAUSE OF THE VERY THIN PRETEXT USED TO LAUNCH THE STRIKE ... THE PRETEXT DOES NOT JUSTIFY SUCH A MASSIVE STRIKE WITH THE MASS DESTRUCTION THAT GOES WITH IT. TEXT: THE REGIONAL DAILY "OUEST FRANCE" IN RENNES, SPECULATED: VOICE: [PRESIDENT CLINTON] EXPECTS AT LEAST TWO THINGS FROM THESE STRIKES. AN INTERNATIONAL AFFIRMATION OF U-S LEADERSHIP [AND] A DOMESTIC REPRIEVE ON THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURE. THE COINCIDENCE OF THESE TWO EVENTS LEADS ONE TO DOUBT THE BASIS FOR THE U-S DECISION STRIKE /// OPT /// ....STILL, SADDAM IS THE ONE AND ONLY PERSON ... FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HIS PEOPLE. /// END OPT /// TEXT: IN DENMARK, COPENHAGEN'S "EKSTRA BLADET" RAN THIS EDITORIAL IN THURSDAY'S [12/17] EDITIONS SUPPORTING THE ATTACK, BUT COMMENTING: VOICE: [PRESIDENT CLINTON] ... WILL, OF COURSE, FACE ACCUSATIONS THAT HE INITIATED THE ATTACK TO TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT AWAY FROM THE IMPEACHMENT CASE. BUT THESE ACCUSATIONS ARE UNREASONABLE... THE TYRANNICAL HUSSEIN IS A ... BRUTAL CYNIC WHO REPRESENTS A LETHAL DANGER TO THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS. ... THEREFORE "EKSTRA BLADET" SUPPORTS THE ANGLO-AMERICAN ATTACK. TEXT: FOR SPANISH REACTION, HERE IS "EL PAIS" FROM MADRID: VOICE: ... [WE WOULD ALSO EXPECT THAT] THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT HAS A STRATEGY AS WELL AS MILITARY TACTICS UP HIS SLEEVE ... REGARDING HOW TO DEAL WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN AND THE SUFFERING IRAQI POPULACE ONCE THE LAST BOMB HAS FALLEN. TEXT: ACROSS TOWN, HOWEVER, "EL MUNDO" WAS MUCH LESS SYMPATHETIC. VOICE: [ALTHOUGH] IT IS, OF COURSE, OBVIOUS THAT SADDAM HAS DONE EVERYTHING HE COULD RECENTLY TO INCITE SUCH AN ATTACK ... ITS COINCIDENCE WITH THE SCHEDULED IMPEACHMENT VOTE SPARKS SUSPICIONS THAT [MR.] CLINTON IS PLAYING DOMESTIC POLITICS WITH HIS MISSILES. /// OPT /// TEXT: AND IN SLOVENIA, LJUBLJANA'S "DELO" GRIMACES, AND NOTES: VOICE: MANY PEOPLE PRAY TODAY THAT SHELLS WHICH FLY OVER IRAQ WERE SMART - - SMARTER THAN THE POLICY CONTROLLING THEM - - AND THAT ONE ... WOULD HIT SADDAM HUSSEIN. /// END OPT /// TEXT: QUICKLY TO THE MIDDLE EAST, WHERE OPINIONS ARE ALSO MIXED. IN ISRAEL, TEL AVIV'S "HAARETZ" NOTED IN THURSDAY'S EDITIONS [12/17]: VOICE: THE UNITED STATES HAS OVERCOME PAST DILEMMAS, THE NEED TO EXHAUST ALL DIPLOMATIC PROCEDURES BEFORE DROPPING BOMBS, AND THE BURDENSOME MORAL QUESTION OF HURTING INNOCENT PEOPLE. IT HAS ALSO EXHAUSTED ITS USE OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ... THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO WIN THE WAR IT STARTED, WHICH IS BECOMING ONE OF THE LONGEST WARS IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN INVOLVED. TEXT: IN MOROCCO, "AL MUNADHAMA" HAS THIS FRONT-PAGE COMMENTARY IN THURSDAY'S PAPERS. VOICE: IN A COVERT ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY THE U-S AND BRITISH AGGRESSION AGAINST IRAQ, RICHARD BUTLER PRESENTED THE U-N A REPORT FULL OF FALSEHOODS ... WE WONDER WHETHER THE WORLD WILL ENTER THE THIRD MILLENNIUM UNDER THE SHADOW OF U-S HEGEMONY AND ARROGANCE IMPOSED ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND WORLD ORGANIZATIONS .... IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD U-S AND ZIONIST INTERESTS. TEXT: TURNING TO QATAR, ON THE GULF, ONE OF DOHA'S DAILIES "AS-SHARQ" ASKS: VOICE: ...WHO REALLY SUFFERS? OF COURSE, THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ, WHO CONTINUE TO STARVE UNDER THE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND BOYCOTTS, WITHOUT ANY HOPE OF SALVATION. ... WE CALL ON INTERNATIONAL LEADERS AND THE LEADERS OF IRAQ TO LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF REASON THAT WE HOPE WILL GUIDE THE SECURITY COUNCIL. NOW, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE WE CAN DO BUT PRAY TO GOD TO PRESERVE THE IRAQI PEOPLE FROM ANOTHER WAR AND LIFT THEN OUT OF THEIR SEVERE SUFFERING. TEXT: AND NOW, BRIEFLY, FAR DOWN IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, WHERE IN AN EDITORIAL RUNNING IN FRIDAY'S [12/18] SYDNEY'S, "DAILY TELEGRAPH" THE AUSTRALIAN PAPER SUPPORTS THE STRIKES AS DOES ITS GOVERNMENT. VOICE: ... PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON HAD NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO AUTHORIZE THE AIR STRIKES ... AGAINST THE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPON STOCKPILES OF SADDAM HUSSEIN. IT WAS NOT A DECISION TAKEN LIGHTLY OR IMPULSIVELY. ... DESPITE WHAT CRITICS OF MR. CLINTON MIGHT WANT TO BELIEVE ABOUT HIS MOTIVE, IT WAS NOT A DECISION TAKEN IN ISOLATION OR WITHOUT SUPPORT. ..... IN AUSTRALIA, BOTH PRIME MINISTER JOHN HOWARD AND OPPOSITION LEADER KIM BEAZLEY SUPPORTED THE STRIKES AND WERE RIGHT TO DO SO. SADDAM HAS USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN THE PAST AGAINST IRANIAN TROOPS AND KURDISH CIVILIANS IN NORTHERN IRAQ ... THE WORLD CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE THE CHANCE OF SADDAM USING THESE FEARFUL WEAPONS AGAIN. TEXT: ON THIS CONTINENT, THE INFLUENTIAL AND RESPECTED TORONTO "GLOBE AND MAIL" HEADLINES ITS THURSDAY EDITORIAL: "DROP A BOMB TO STOP A BOMB," ADDING: VOICE: THE UNITED STATES WAS LEFT WITH NO CHOICE BUT TO STRIKE AT IRAQ .... THIS IS A REAL POLICY RESPONDING A TO A PLAIN-AS-DAY CRISIS, NOT SOME ADVERTISING GIMMICK. AND OTTAWA IS RIGHT TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN POSITION .... TEXT: BUT IN THE CANADIAN CAPITAL, "THE OTTAWA CITIZEN" IS MORE RESTRAINED, NOTING: VOICE: BOMBING IRAQ IS THE RIGHT RESPONSE AT THE WRONG TIME. IT COVERS FOR AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT WHOSE POLITICAL FUTURE IS ON THE LINE ... STILL, IT IS THE RIGHT RESPONSE, AND FREEDOM-LOVING NATIONS SHOULD BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF THAT THE UNITED STATES, EVEN WEAKENED BY THE CORRUPTION OF ITS OWN PRESIDENT, WAS WILLING TO CONFRONT AN ENEMY OF WORD PEACE ... TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF EARLY WORLD REACTION FROM SOME QUARTERS, TO THE ATTACKS BY U-S AND BRITISH FORCES AGAINST IRAQ. NEB/ANG/RRM 17-Dec-98 5:22 PM EST (2222 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .