VZCZCXYZ0016
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #0603 0821054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231054Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8721

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000603 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA, PM 
 
STATE FOR INL, INR/R/MR, NEA/IR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC PTER CI IZ
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ 
 
 
¶1. On March 22, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, "El 
Mercurio" (circ. 116,807) carried a column by Karin Ebensperger 
entitled, "The Iraqi Swamp."  Quote: 
 
¶2. "On the day President Bush invaded Iraq I publicly criticized his 
decision.  It seemed to me that after the terrible attack on the 
Twin Towers the last thing to do was to create enemies in the Muslim 
world....  Three years later, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld 
announced that the Bush administration is preparing for a 'long war' 
and admits that terrorism is a complex threat that cannot be 
resolved in the short term or with a military invasion.  Incredible. 
 It took President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld 35,000 deaths and 
more than 2,000 American lives...to realize what many European 
leaders, journalists and experts considered obvious....  President 
Bush has problems understanding the international system and the 
array of elements that interact therein: a true statesman can 
determine the general context in which he will act and the possible 
repercussions only if he has thorough knowledge of the world and its 
cultural diversity." 
 
YAMAUCHI