DATE=09/22/03

TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST

NAME=MONDAY'S EDITORIALS

NUMBER=6-13097

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The situation in Iraq and issues related to U-S domestic security receive a lot of editorial comment this Monday. Other topics include the threat of Iran's nuclear weapons, the Israeli Palestinian dispute, and tensions between India and Pakistan. Now, here with a sampling is ____________ and today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: Iraq and the challenges it presents continue to be the focus of many newspaper commentaries. Connecticut's Waterbury Republican American is heartened by the first scientific survey of what the Iraqi people feel about their present situation. Quoting the survey, the paper says it gives a very different picture from what most news organizations are reporting.

VOICE: Seven of 10 Iraqis think their country and personal lives will be better in five years … Three of four said politics, not the economy, will be the toughest part of reconstruction… The most popular government model is the U-S republic, which got more support than the despotic regimes in Syria, Iran and Egypt combined… Nearly 60 percent have unfavorable opinions of Osama bin Laden…

TEXTG: Several papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Orlando [Florida] Sentinel and Dayton [Ohio] Daily News, say that President Bush has finally admitted that there is no evidence Saddam Hussein's Iraq was involved in the September 11th terrorist attacks. The Sentinel wants more and continuing candor: "The Bush administration needs to level with Americans about Iraq. … The long and difficult mission …won't succeed unless it is sustained by popular support at home. If Americans feel they are being misled, that support will crumble."

Florida's Saint Petersburg Times is upset about the strain on families of U-S Army reservists who have been sent to Iraq. The paper is asking for clearer information on when they can return home. In California, the San Diego Union Tribune worries about the control the U-S Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has on the 20-billion dollar aid money. The Union Tribune says Mr. Bremer is not sharing information with the State Department on his projects.

Turning now to domestic issues, the Patriot Act, which was hurriedly passed by Congress after the 9/11 attacks, continues to foster comment because of the extensive police powers it grants to the government. Ohio's Akron Beacon Journal writes:

VOICE: Attorney General John Ashcroft is … countering charges the acts permits the … government to snoop in the private records of Americans without … judicial oversight. … A recently released …memo indicated the government has not issued any warrants to obtain library or bookstore records. … Yet the concerns are not baseless.

TEXT: Florida's Tampa Tribune writes:

VOICE: We haven't objected to most of the government's efforts to defeat terrorism… and in general, [Mr.] Ashcroft's Justice Department has done a good job of attending to the security issues of the nation.

TEXT: On the topic of global security, Iran's failure to disclose all the details of its stepped-up nuclear weapons program draws this comment from the Washington Post.

VOICE: European governments make the point that the Bush administration's policy of shunning the Iranian government while encouraging a pro-democracy opposition movement … has failed to get results. … The time to address Iran by multilateral and non-military means is now…

TEXT: As for the ongoing violence between Israel and the Palestinians, the Chicago Tribune notes: "In recent days, Israel has intensified its campaign to kill terrorist leaders, and announced its intention - …to exile [Chairman] Arafat. It is clear that even if the road map is revived, no peace talks can succeed without a long lull in terrorist attacks.

Missouri's Kansas City Star worries that: "relations between India and Pakistan … recently … on an upward curve, appear to be deteriorating again," while the New York Times again excoriates Zimbabwe's dictator President Robert Mugabe for closing the last independent newspaper in his country, Harare's Daily News. The Times writes that Mr. Mugabe has extinguished one of the last embers of free speech in Zimbabwe.

On that note we conclude this sampling of editorials from Monday's U-S press.

NEB/ANG/KL