US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3458

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003458 
 
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, Parliament, BAGHDAD 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION; 
BAGHDAD 
 
 
SUMMARY: Discussions on the Constitution was one of the 
major editorial theme of the daily web-site editorials on 
August 23, 2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------- 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
--------------------------------- 
 
A. "Citizenship and Sectarianism; The Difference Between The 
Sunni and Shiite Constitution"  (Iraqi Press Website in 
Arabic, 8/22) 
B.  "Iraqi Constitution and the Dialogue of the Deaf" (Iraq 
4 All News in Arabic, 8/23) 
C.  "Concession Over Self-Determination" (Al-Rafidayn Web 
Site in Arabic, 8/23) 
D.  "Iraq, Uniqueness of the Constitutional Battle . . . The 
Uniqueness of the Iraqi Case" (Soat Al-Iraq (The Voice of 
Iraq) in Arabic, 8/23) 
 
------------------------------------------- 
SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
 
A. "Citizenship and Sectarianism; The Difference Between The 
Sunni and Shiite Constitution" 
(Iraqi Press Website in Arabic - Editorial by Ali Al-Shlah, 
http://www.iraqipapers.com/dustoor_6_6_5_ali. htm) 
 
"Iraq is ruled by one sect which nobody used to talk about. 
Now sectarianism is a familiar topic of conversation, since 
the government is comprised of Iraqi people from all 
spectrums! . . . Which group committee members identify with 
or not, as well as their qualifications, have become main 
concerns for Iraqis because it is a hot Iraqi and 
international Arab issue. This point was taken to such 
extremes that when Secretary of State Rice visited Iraq and 
demanded that the Prime Minister guarantee a larger role for 
Sunnis in drafting the constitution, nobody claimed that 
this was ethnic power sharing.  But it seems that this topic 
only comes up when the government is faced with the 
necessity of giving non-Sunnis their rights (or not) in the 
political process . . . Iraqis had problems with Saddam's 
regime not because he was Sunni but because he was a 
criminal.  People would have turned against him even if he 
had been Shi'ite. Why do people say that every anti- 
terrorist operation is against Sunnis? . . I wish that I had 
heard the protesters on the Constitutional Drafting 
Committee say that they opposed the committee because it 
excluded an Iraqi legal advisor. But, to oppose it because 
they concluded it didn't have enough Sunnis isn't a good 
enough reason. The committee is considered sectarian because 
the leaders of the Sunnis convinced their group to boycott 
the elections.  Then those very same leaders demanded a big 
portion of the cake through terrorizing others with the 
threat of a boycott, though Sunnis did not elect the Sunni 
spokespersons.  They are not legitimate. The government 
responded to their blackmail with support from abroad to the 
extent that I'm afraid that Sunni extremists will boycott 
the upcoming elections to get more than they could get in a 
free and fair election. In that manner they will continue to 
assume more power and get away with their grandstanding. The 
written constitution won't differentiate between one Iraqi 
and another and it won't favor one sect over another. 
Political leaders should all concentrate on writing a 
patriotic constitution and not sectarianism one." 
 
B.  "Iraqi Constitution and the Dialogue of the Deaf" 
(Iraq 4 All News in Arabic - Editorial By Jihad Al-Khazin) 
 
"It might be true that the constitutional committee had 
completed 90% of the draft before its August 15th deadline, 
but its also true that the remaining 10% is the largest 
source of disagreement among the three main groups . . . In 
fact, the deliberations have shed light on how deep the 
differences are among Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. These 
differences led the negotiators to give themselves another 
week for deliberations despite pressure from the United 
States. They went into the extension with no practical 
program for reaching a solution for problems that preventing 
their agreement in the first place . . . The Shiites demand 
a federal region in the south that would enable them to 
benefit from its oil resources. The Kurds in the north also 
want their own federal region but they oppose the idea of 
Islam as the main source of legislation . . . The 15 Sunni 
Constitutional Committee members have threatened to withdraw 
from the process if Shiites and Kurds continue to insist on 
these concessions . . . The United States has pressured all 
parties to give up their points and reach an agreement. 
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, expressed disappointment over 
the postponement after acting as the 72nd member of the 
committee.  Maybe he was even the first . . . Federalism is 
the first step in the plan to divide Iraq. The Shiites and 
Kurds are already talking about the next step, which is 
autonomy . . . It is a real possibility that the failure of 
this process could lead to a civil war. That kind of war 
could already be on the way, even though no one is talking 
about it yet. We are suffering from insane terrorism that 
could not be described as a resistance movement. It is 
claiming many lives on daily basis. While the United States, 
which put Iraq in these circumstances, is trying to 
emphasize the positive side of the situation that just 
doesn't exist." 
 
C.  "Concession Over Self-Determination" 
(Al-Rafidayn Web Site (independent) in Arabic - Editorial by 
Venus Fa'iq 
http://www.alrafidayn.com) 
 
"News of Kurdish concessions over the right of self- 
determination didn't have any shocking impact on my soul . . 
. Since I did speculate that Kurds would end up with nothing 
. . . I would have liked to ask Kurdish officials the 
question: When did Kurds have any rights to give up in the 
first place, and could they give them up without going back 
to their people?. . I don't know what rights Kurds will have 
after this concession and after agreeing that Islam should 
be the main source of legislation--these two points alone 
are enough to suppress the Kurdish people in a civilized 
manner right under the world's sight . . . We should point 
out that the American position changed during the night. 
Americans, whom Kurds thought were keen on Kurdish rights 
and were their strongest ally ever, have turned their back 
on Kurds in favor of Shiites, the neighbors of Iran. . . . I 
can't think how any attention could be given towards Kurdish 
demands anymore, even in Kirkuk, especially after Al- 
Sistani's fatwa. I believe Kirkuk will be the next step in 
the series of concessions and I hope I'm wrong." 
 
D.  "Iraq, Uniqueness of the Constitutional Battle . . . The 
Uniqueness of the Iraqi Case" 
(Soat Al-Iraq (The Voice of Iraq) in Arabic - Editorial by 
Ameer Al-Taheri 
http://www.sotaliraq.com) 
 
"Does the national assembly's decision to postpone the 
discussion of the draft constitution represent a major 
setback for Iraq that has just been freed from a 
dictatorship or is it merely a minor event on the road to 
democracy? . . . Failure to meet the constitutional deadline 
would be considered a drawback for only one reason, it's the 
first time the Iraqi leadership has failed to fulfill a 
political obligation on time since the toppling of the 
previous regime . . . Despite the prospect of postponement 
being seen as a tactical drawback for Iraqis, it represents 
a democratic development in an Iraq that was recently freed 
from decades of dictatorship. Constitutional committee 
members stood up to pressures from different factions 
including Al-Sistani and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq . . . 
The vast majority of Iraqis are content with the manner 
through which decisions are made, and they're aware that the 
era where constitutions were imposed by tyrants is gone 
forever, and that no single group can dictate its will over 
others, and most importantly they know it's no longer 
possible to ignore the will of the people . . . The 
discussions around the drafting of the constitution have 
included Iraqis participating in over 300 conferences 
enabling 50,000 to express their opinions; in addition to 
the participation of many unions, women's groups, and human 
rights organizations." 
 
 
 
Khalilzad