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Editorials: London, Hamburg and Amsterdam opinions on Iraq The Guardian, London on war with Iraq Tony Blair says he 'totally understands' why public opinion is skeptical on Iraq - but it is far from clear that he does ... opposition to war in Iraq is rising, not falling. ... This battle for public opinion at home and abroad differs from other eras in several respects. Generally speaking, people are better informed, more connected, more autonomous, much more critical of the political process, and less inclined to accept at face value their leaders' judgments. As a result, modern public opinion, one aspect of a globalized community, is less easily led or manipulated. The public increasingly demands its voice be heard, and contrary views genuinely considered, before decisions are made in its name. War is not inevitable; but neither, if war comes, is public support for it. Financial Times Deutschland, Hamburg, Germany on Saddam Hussein The idea is tempting: Saddam Hussein is granted immunity, he steps down as president and disappears into exile with his family to a designated land. ... In reality it is highly likely this will never happen. ... Saddam Hussein would never accept such an offer. In addition, exile and immunity for Iraq's president would send the wrong signal to the world and all remaining dictators. Not to bring a war criminal and butcher like Saddam Hussein - whom human rights groups allege has claimed the lives of a million people - to justice would be an enormous setback for the international community. Since the lawsuits against Chile's Augusto Pinochet and above all Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, the world has changed for violent rulers - they must now reckon with being held accountable for their actions before an international judicial body. In this light, it is doubtful if granting Saddam immunity and exile would really save so many lives. While war would be avoided, the long-term consequences would possibly be worse than those in the short-term. De Volkskrant, Amsterdam, Netherlands on U.N. weapons inspections U.S. President George Bush is being pulled at from all sides. The French want the U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq to have more time - as long as until the fall, if necessary. But Bush's defense secretary Rumsfeld wants a decision within a few weeks, in order to decide whether to go to war. He's afraid that weapons inspectors will get caught up in an open-ended cat-and-mouse game, as they did in 1998. Bush must choose between the two. We hope he will prefer to maintain as broad an international coalition as possible. The public in both Europe and the U.S. want that. If this means he must give the U.N. inspectors more time for their attempt to disarm Saddam peacefully, then he should do that. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -