DATE=07/28/03

TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST

TITLE=MONDAY'S EDITORIALS

NUMBER=6-13021

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: A congressional report on intelligence failures that preceded the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, remains a popular editorial topic. Other comments deal with Iraq: domestic security laws; the nuclear threat of North Korea and remembering the Korean War anniversary. Now, here with a sampling is ___________ and today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: There is a shocked tone in this assessment from Florida's Orlando Sentinel.

VOICE: In stunning detail, the final congressional report on pre-September 11 intelligence failures shows there were plenty of clues pointing to an al-Qaida attack in the United States. The F-B-I, C-I-A and other agencies either failed to heed … or share them. This begs a question: What has President … Bush's administration been doing since September 11 to prevent another intelligence breakdown … The answer: Not nearly enough.

TEXT: Iowa's Des Moines Register laments that there is just too much going on.

VOICE: … the report … was actually the most important news of the week. Yet, the nation's preoccupation with events related to Iraq illustrates how that war continues to divert attention from the important matter of guarding against future terrorist attacks.

TEXT: The Chicago Sun-Times complains: "Americans deserve to see [the censored portion of the] report on Saudi [Arabia's] role in 9/11…

TEXT: In a related commentary, Tennessee's Memphis Commercial Appeal is pleased that "Congress finally is having second thoughts about the USA Patriot Act … [blocking] the … "sneak and peek" or "black bag" provision in criminal investigations." That paper and several others consider portions of the act an unconstitutional invasion of personal privacy.

As for the conflict in Iraq, the plan put forth for stabilization of the country by U-S Administrator Paul Bremer is gaining support. Newsday on New York's Long Island says "…it Merits Quick U-S Approval"

VOICE: … it takes into account the missteps and wrong assumptions the Bush administration made in the immediate postwar period, adjusts for them and builds on some positive developments that rarely get public attention. His long-range priorities are the establishment of full security and civil order, the restoration of Iraq's economy and … creation of a democratic government…

TEXT: Oklahoma's Tulsa World is suggesting that DNA testing "should provide further positive proof" the identity of the bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein. The World defends the release of pictures of the dead men under the extenuating circumstances. In Connecticut, New London's Day takes issue with Vice President Dick Cheney's most recent explanation for going to war with Iraq. The paper claims there were alternatives to invading … "but the administration failed to allow time for weapons inspections to continue."

Florida's Miami Herald is worried about the growing nuclear weapons threat from North Korea, and what it sees as the Bush administration's lack of urgency about the matter.

VOICE: It seems vaguely menacing, but … far away and represents no real danger. This notion is encouraged by political leaders who dismiss the threat of nuclear weapons possessed by North Korea…. Are they kidding us, or kidding themselves? The threat is real. … This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War, an appropriate moment to ponder the immense sacrifices of those who served in the so-called forgotten war. We salute them and encourage today's leaders to summon an equal measure of devotion and skill in finding a way to avoid another tragic episode on the Korean peninsula.

TEXT: The New York Post heartily agrees, suggesting it is "Time to Remember The Forgotten War"

/// OPT ///

and Ohio's Cincinnati Post proposes that " Had the [U-S] not intervened … there probably would not be a prosperous, democratic South Korea today.

/// END ///

As for African developments, today's Trenton [New Jersey] Times is afraid President Bush is backing down on "his promised" AIDS aid [to Africa] mentioned in his State of the Union Speech and again on his recent visit there. And as for the latest famine sweeping Ethiopia, The New York Times says the world needs to pay attention as "more than 12 million are at risk, half of those children under 15."

With that, we conclude this editorial sampling of Monday's U-S press.

NEB/ANG/FC