by John Fitzpatrick

Well, George Bush, of course, according to many aggrieved Brazilians. The logic behind this idea is that if the US, with its British lackeys, had not invaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein, Brazil´s best-known diplomatic troubleshooter, Sergio Vieira de Mello, would not have gone to Baghdad and been killed. The terrorists who actually bombed the UN headquarters, killing more than 20 people and maiming scores of others, were not really to blame. They were just a symptom and Bush was the real murderer.

Reuters news agency quoted Paulo Delgado, the Workers Party (PT)foreign affairs spokesman, as praising Vieira de Mello for “standing up” to the US. "He took a firm position with the United States, demanding that they reestablish water and electricity in Iraq. He said deploying tanks in Iraq was like rolling tanks into Copacabana," was Delgado´s barbed comment. Personally, I think the residents of Copacabana and other parts of Rio would welcome American tanks with open arms if they felt the US presence could protect them from the city´s endemic crime.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the “Estado de S. Paulo” newspaper on the day following the attack: “While we were looking after out own affairs... Sergio Vieira de Mello was in the midst of the inferno which Baghdad has been transformed into since this disastrous investment by Mr. Bush and his hawks..”, “The (UN) employees, by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.. are the innocent victims of the megalomaniac madness of George W. Bush.”

One correspondent to the “Folha de São Paulo”, playing the role of Grand Inquisitor by asking and answering his own questions, had this to say: “No-one is asking the most important question – why did this tragedy happen? The answer is simple – because the Iraq War should not have taken place.” Oh really?

The anti-Americanism was also apparent in the “Folha´s” news coverage. On Thursday it had had a front-page teaser and inside page lead story headlined: “Annan criticizes coalition for lack of security”. According to the “Folha´s” reporter in New York, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, had made a “hard hitting and unusual” criticism of the US and UK over the attacks. The headline and introduction were based on this quote: "We had hoped that by now, the coalition forces would have secured the environment for us to be able to carry on ... economic reconstruction and institution building. That has not happened." The remarks, which Annan made in Stockholm, were not nearly as hard hitting as the paper made out and the story was founded on such a weak base that, by the third paragraph, the paper reported that by the time Annan reached New York, he had toned down his comments.

Most other agencies used as their news angle Annan´s announcement in Stockholm that the UN would remain in Iraq despite the bombing. It was also apparent from other comments he made that the UN secretary general himself had no idea of the security situation on the ground. I contacted the “Folha” to try and find out why they had used this particular angle but, unsurprisingly, got no reply.

According to this same newspaper President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will pay a tribute to Vieira de Mello on September 21 on the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York in which he will condemn the war in Iraq. Let us hope Lula sticks to a tribute and keeps his thoughts on Iraq to himself. However, this is unlikely since he was quoted as telling foreign correspondents in Brasilia that the US troops should be pulled out and replaced by UN troops, as though that would change anything.

© John Fitzpatrick 2003