US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD2598

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002598 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/PPD, NEA/PPA, NEA/AGS, INR/IZ, 
INR/P 
E.0. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, KPAO, IZ, Media Reaction 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ, U.S. WITHDRAWAL, 
CONSTITUTION; BAGHDAD 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: The major themes in the daily newspapers on 
June. 19 were Al-Jafari's visit to Kuwait, military 
operations in Al-Qa'im and Al-Thar Thar, and the Brussels 
conference. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
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A. "Failure is not an option in Iraq" (Asharq Al-Awsat, 
6/19) 
B. "Human rights are an important theme in drafting the 
constitution" (Al-Ittihad, 6/19) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
---------------------- 
 
A. "Failure is not an option in Iraq" (Asharq Al-Awsat, 
6/19) 
 
Asharq Al-Awsat (independent, London-based, has wide 
circulation in Iraq) published a ninth-page editorial by 
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid about the situation in Iraq: 
 
"American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a man of Afghan 
origin who was moved from Kabul to Baghdad, has recently 
stated that failure in Iraq is not an option. However, 
neither he nor his superiors in Washington have explained 
the meaning of failure. Because of the continued loss of 
human lives, there have been some doubts about whether the 
U.S. forces will continue to remain in Iraq. The continued 
deterioration of the security situation has led some U.S. 
congressional members to demand a timetable for the 
withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. 
 
Not only is failure in Iraq possible, it is imminent. The 
question that remains is what will be the magnitude of the 
American loss? Will it be the loss of 2,000 soldiers in 
just two years? What will happen if this number reaches ten 
or even thirty thousand? What will happen if the number of 
attacks increases and new groups join the insurgency? What 
will happen if the Iraqi people continue to disagree with 
each other, thus proving that the country cannot be 
stabilized? Historical experiments have demonstrated that 
anything is possible in the Middle East, including failure. 
If the U.S. departs Iraq defeated, it will likely lose its 
dominance in the world and perhaps lose its presence in 
other countries. The U.S. will become just like any other 
small country that can be defeated easily. Indeed, the 
American position in the world will be weak and Washington 
will lose the trust of its friends. 
 
The new American Ambassador stated that failure in Iraq is 
not an option. Yet, we must declare that achieving success 
is not so easy. During the Vietnam War, Washington repeated 
that it would not leave the country until South Vietnam won 
the war. However, the U.S. left Vietnm afer he 
communists took control of Saigon. At that time, the 
Americans were trying to catch the last fleeing helicopters 
from the roof of the Embassy. If you were to ask Henry 
Kissinger about that terrible defeat, he would say that the 
Americans lost Vietnam but stopped the Left from 
controlling all of Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, the cost of 
failure in Iraq is higher than in Vietnam because Iraq's 
oil is much more important than Vietnam's rice. 
 
The U.S. defeat in Iraq will be the end of an empire. Most 
Iraqi politicians, except for those of the Muslim Scholars 
Association, realize that the early withdrawal of U.S. 
forces from Iraq will threaten the internal situation and 
may push the country into civil war. This war will be 
terrible and similar to the Serbian war on Bosnia and 
Kosovo. A decade ago in the Balkans, the world asked for 
American intervention to stop the ugly massacres that were 
occurring. From that time until now, the situation in the 
Balkans has been under control. The Iraqi people deserve a 
chance to enjoy stability and they deserve to run their own 
internal affairs, without the need for American troops. 
This must be an Iraqi decision, not one made by the Arabs 
who are living away from the fire." 
 
B. "Human rights are an important theme in drafting the 
constitution" (Al-Ittihad, 6/19) 
 
Al-Ittihad (affiliated with PUK led by Jalal Talabani) 
published a third-page editorial by Abdul Hadi Mahdi about 
the constitution: 
 
"On April 9th, 2003, many voices appeared from the cracks 
that began calling for human rights. In the past, it was 
forbidden to speak about this issue because it did not 
conform with the policies of the former regime. Thus, any 
discussion on human rights was artificial and far from its 
real meaning. For decades, human rights were violated in 
all Iraqi cities. Today, there are many associations and 
organizations that have expressed their interest in human 
rights. However, the concept of human rights is not as easy 
as some people may think. In reality, these concepts are 
extensive and include aspects of several different fields 
that must be discussed in order to obtain a full 
understanding of human rights. 
The leaders and members of these organizations must be 
highly educated so that they can overcome obstacles that 
may hinder them in accomplishing their goal of establishing 
effective human rights organizations. Iraq is full of 
reliable human rights activists that have dedicated their 
lives to promoting the rights of the Iraqi people. The 
constitutional committee has recently begun to draft the 
permanent constitution. Undoubtedly, human rights will be 
an important theme for the constitution drafting process 
because it is now time to correct the violations that have 
plagued the past. 
 
The constitution is the primary law of the country and it 
must guarantee all rights. We must disseminate the culture 
of human rights in order to understand its concepts. This 
can be accomplished by providing specialized staffs in 
human rights to teach the subject in universities and other 
academic arenas. We should take the subject of human rights 
and turn it into an academic curriculum. In addition, we 
must hold human rights forums for governmental employees in 
all provinces. We must encourage civil society 
organizations to participate in these forums and conduct 
media campaigns to educate the Iraqi people about human 
rights because they must be accompanied by commitments." 
 
JEFFREY