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Sure, the U.S. and the British have all but won the war to oust Saddam Hussein. But it will take a lot more than a decisive military victory to convince a largely hostile world that the U.S. has accomplished anything even remotely positive in Iraq.
Nowhere is that more clear than in the overseas press coverage of the war. The conservative Spanish daily El Mundo, which helped bring pro-war Prime Minister José María Aznar to power, sums up prevailing world opinion: In recent weeks, the paper has veered against the war, even publishing a cartoon on Apr. 7 that depicts Aznar, President Bush, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with vultures perched on their shoulders.
Whether in Europe, the Arab world, or in heavily Muslim Southeast Asia, media outlets are showing a vastly different war than the one Americans are viewing on Fox, CNN, or the three networks. While much of the U.S. press is heralding the coalition's swift show of force -- and accepts the Administration's argument that it aims to bring about a free, more democratic Iraq -- much media around the world is far more skeptical about the invasion's goals, and far more focused on the tragedy of civilian casualties. And just as those differences have shaped perceptions of the war as it has unfolded, they promise to complicate the Administration's task as it moves into the postwar phase of rebuilding.
LOOSE CANNON? Why such huge differences? If much of the overseas press is stoking anger and skepticism over the war in their audiences, there are, of course, strong historical and cultural reasons for those views. What for Americans may seem like a war of liberation looks to many Europeans to be the raw exercise of power by a U.S. all too eager to shed multilateral constraints.
And many in the Arab and Muslim world take an even dimmer view of the war, despite widespread disdain for Saddam. For them, U.S. and British intervention in Iraq is just the latest chapter in a centuries-long ordeal of Western oppression and humiliation.
It's no small irony that the unprecedented level of access granted to media of all stripes has helped intensify reactions around the globe. Yet a quick military victory is hardly going to change those reactions. Indeed, it may even reinforce the anti-American vitriol by demonstrating that the U.S. government can do what it wants in the world, public opinion be damned.
CONTRACTS AND OIL. "The writers see their powerlessness," says Stefan Kornelius, editorial-page editor of Munich-based daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shifted to an antiwar stance after the U.S. decided to bypass the U.N. "They see how we Europeans are not up to forcing through our policies."
Still, the anti-American tilt pervasive in the European press and elsewhere could moderate if the U.S. does a skillful job during the postwar rebuilding phase, including reaching out to other governments. Press coverage of U.S. policy could even turn favorable if the Bush Administration gives the U.N. a major role, allows foreign companies to bid for rebuilding contracts, and makes sure that Iraqi oil wealth flows back to the Iraqis.
"How the U.S. rebuilds Iraq and how it will provide leadership in the postwar world will be crucial in remaking its image," says Bae Myung Bok, foreign news editor at JoongAng Ilbo, South Korea's nationally circulated newspaper.
VICTORY'S PRICE. The ultimate question is whether hostility toward U.S. policy in Iraq will morph into widespread anti-Americanism, which would be a big setback for U.S. corporations operating abroad. "Anti-American sentiment has been vented at people in Washington, not at America as a whole," says Endy Bayuni, managing editor of The Jakarta Post.
Not everyone is so sure. "If the Bush Administration's policies continue along the same lines, anti-Americanism will become more strident," warns Ejaz Haider, news editor of The Friday Times, an independent weekly in Pakistan.
That's a fear even in traditionally pro-U.S. countries like Germany. "The skepticism toward America will get deeper," predicts Andreas Platthaus, deputy editor of the culture and criticism section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He adds, "I hope it doesn't become broadly anti-American." If it does, the U.S. will have paid a steep price for marching into Baghdad.
By Jack Ewing in Frankfurt with Michael Shari in Singapore, Naween A. Mangi in Karachi, Paulo Prado in Madrid, Christina Passariello in Paris, Manjeet Kripalani in Bombay, Neal Sandler in Jerusalem, and bureau reports
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Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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