[Media-watch] World Opinion Roundup

[iainc2003 at tesco.net]

Cartoonists Still Draw Their Own Conclusions 
	
By Jefferson Morley
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 1, 2003; 9:42 PM 
As the electronic media increasingly dominate public understanding of the battlefield in Iraq, those who try to illuminate the realities of war through editorial cartoons drawn with old-fashioned pen and paper have virtually been forgotten.
Which is a loss. Editorial cartoonists bring an imaginative, individual perspective to the U.S. attack on Iraq in ways that "embedded" reporters, night vision goggles and videocameras can't quite achieve. For one thing, cartoonists are allowed to be funny.
El Roto, a cartoonist for El Pais, the leading paper of Spain, has Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a podium, declaring: "After Iraq, we will liberate Iran, Syria, Korea, France, Mercury, Jupiter and Pluto."
In London's Daily Telegraph Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz and some Iraqi generals sitting a seance get a supernatural message: "You Are Toast."
Pakistan's News International suggests Israel and America have undergone a "role reversal" with Israel as the puppeteer and Uncle Sam as the puppet, while the Jerusalem Post cartoonist Meir Romman presents the domino theory, as favored in Israel. The first domino features the face of Saddam Hussein and is starting to tip. The second bears the likeness of Bashir Assad, president of Syria. The third domino is Mohammed Khatami, the president of Iran.
"El Fisgon," the pen name of one of three cartoonists for the leftist daily La Jornada in Mexico City, portrays Bush with blood on his hands, asking, "How can they accuse me of war crimes? I didn't even do my military service." 
In India, the cartoonist for The Hindu pictures how the war in Iraq is generating contracts for U.S. construction firms. 
In the Paris daily Le Monde, Tuesday's front page "dessin de jour" (drawing of the day) featured a U.S. soldier riding a tank in front of a crowd of smiling Iraqis holding a big "Welcome" sign. The pleasantly surprised soldier murmurs, "Really." Off to the side, one of the cheerful Iraqis has a different message: "April Fool's!"
© 2003 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive