US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3123

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003123 
 
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 SECURITY, CONSTITUTION; 
BAGHDAD 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: The major themes in the daily newspapers on 
July 28 were drafting the constitution, and the security 
situation. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
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A. "For a constitution that ensures rights for all" (Al- 
Da'awa, 7/28) 
B. "Why Iraq not others" (Al- Ittihad, 7/28) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
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A. "For a constitution that ensures rights for all" (7/28) 
 
Al-Da'awa (affiliated with Islamic Da'awa Party led by 
Hassan Al Sie'ed) published a fifth-page editorial by Rasim 
Qasim about the need for a constitution that will ensure 
rights for all: 
 
Recently I saw a survey that asked questions about the 
constitution.   There was one item of particular interest. 
It asked the rhetorical question, "Who owns the natural 
resources of Iraq?"  The answer, which was written in the 
paper, is of course the people of Iraq. This reminded me of 
when I was a child and my teachers would tell me that Iraq 
was a sea of black gold.  She was talking about the oil and 
natural gas reserves that are under the land in Iraq.  It 
is rumored that Iraq has some of the richest oil reserves 
in the world. We all know that Iraq has the Tigris and 
Euphrates rivers, which are among the greatest rivers 
in the world.  We know that Iraq has some of the purest 
sulfite, glass and phosphorous.  We read about the wonders 
of Iraq and it makes us feel better about our current 
situation.  However, in our current state we cannot reap 
the benefits of our nation's bounty.  Most people suffer 
from anemia and malnutrition and are targeted by 
terrorists. 
 
A long decade ago, before the first war, when Iraqi oil was 
flowing freely to countries like the United States and 
Japan, we knew that our oil was helping to raise the 
standard of living for those people and we envied them 
because our oil was doing nothing for us. 
 
While we have never known, and it seems as though we will 
never know, the meaning of prosperity, we still want things 
to get better.  During the liberation we heard a great deal 
about the good things that were going to happen for the 
Iraqi people.  However, after three years we clearly see 
that nothing has gotten better; in fact things have gotten 
worse. 
 
Iraqis have lived in tinplate houses, without even the most 
basic of human comforts, since the 1930s  the beginning of 
the era of the monarchs.  The era of the monarchs turned 
into the era of Saddam Hussein, and with him we suffered 
even more.  Poverty, sickness and violence have been the 
primary feature of the Iraqi society for as long as anyone 
can remember. 
 
Now we are trying to build a new life in Iraq, but this is 
a new experience for us.  It is difficult.  No matter how 
hard we try nothing seems to work. 
 
The newspapers report that the government will be sure to 
include the Iraqi people when they distribute our oil 
money.  They promise that the money will be distributed 
fairly and that everyone will finally have their own homes. 
They will finally have the same standard of living as 
people living in Western countries.  They claim that all we 
Iraqis need to be willing to do is cash the checks. 
 
It is necessary for the Iraqi government to put the 
interests of the people first.  The government must be 
unselfish and work for our wellbeing. In actuality, this is 
the job of every Iraqi, not only the political powers. 
 
We hope that our leaders will serve Iraq and not their own 
selfish interests.  We need to rebuild our infrastructure, 
our economy and our nation.  This is the job of the 
government.  However, we must remember that the government 
is made up of Iraqis.  We must all work together if we are 
to rebuild our beloved country." 
 
B. "Why Iraq not others" (7/28) 
 
Al-Ittihad (affiliated with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 
led by Jalal Talabani) published a seven-page editorial by 
Salah al Fadhli: 
 
"Why are there so many suicide attacks in Iraq?  That is 
the question that haunts every Iraqi.  Since the fall of 
Sadaam Hussein's regime there has been around six hundred 
suicide attacks.  Most of them have targeted unarmed 
civilians or Iraqi National Guard and police.  Only about 
two hundred of those attacks have targeted American forces. 
No Iraqi is safe, not even our children.  The latest 
outrage against our children was last week when a suicide 
bomber killed thirty-three babes at one time. 
 
The misguided people who support this form of terrorism 
could answer our question.  They might say, "There are so 
many suicide attacks in Iraq because Iraq is a Muslim 
country occupied by American forces, and resistance is the 
duty of every Muslim."  Murdering children is our duty, how 
can that be? 
 
They might try to justify their action by saying, "Because 
resistance is an Islamic duty that should be practiced by 
all Muslim countries under occupation, we have the right to 
choose how we resist." They say they want to liberate Iraq 
by forcing the occupiers to leave.  But are they telling us 
the truth?  Why would anyone leave a country to people who 
would kill children, women and the elderly in such a 
horrible way? 
 
So let us test the theory that resistance in the form of 
suicide attacks is practiced by all Muslims under 
occupation.  Is Afghanistan not also an occupied Muslim 
country?  Has Afghanistan not also been occupied by the 
United States two years longer than Iraq?  If all Muslims 
under an occupation have the duty to perform suicide 
attacks, why have there only been twelve suicide attacks in 
Afghanistan during the whole of their occupation. 
 
This is the first paradox. 
 
The second paradox is that Afghanistan was originally the 
base of the ideological movement that is promoting suicide 
attacks in Iraq. Would it not be better for these people to 
focus on Afghanistan, since it is the birthplace of their 
movement?  Why all of this insistence on seeking martyrdom 
in Iraq?  It would be easier for them to kill themselves at 
home. It seems that there are as many infidels in 
Afghanistan as there are in Iraq. 
 
Is martyrdom in Iraq more rewarded than martyrdom in 
Afghanistan? And what about Palestine?  What is it about 
the Mujahdeen that makes them rush to Iraq to push the 
button on the bomb belt? 
 
This double standard in dealing with Iraq is not confined 
to the Mujahdeen, but extends to religious figures and the 
Arabic media.  The people in those groups, who in the past 
shed real tears for the starving Iraqi children, now keep 
silent when those same children are killed in suicide 
attacks.  And look what happened in Falluja while those 
'wonderful' people kept silent.  What terrible crimes these 
suicide attacks are.  They are not resistance and they are 
not noble.  They are terrorist attacks that are inflicted 
upon Iraq and nowhere else.  Why?" 
 
 
KHALILZAD